


Off Color, Off Your Game

by Birdy_101



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Mpreg, descriptive, gory, not crack
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-14
Updated: 2018-11-18
Packaged: 2018-12-02 05:42:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 23,651
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11502951
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Birdy_101/pseuds/Birdy_101
Summary: I put my hand across his. “Lars. What are you talking about? What did the gems put in you.”Lars looked me in the eyes. “They put another gem.”“What are you talking about?”“They put a gem, a person gem in me.”I shook my head, still not catching on. “How? Is there gem dust in your lungs or something?"“No. They gave me a whole new gem, like Steven.” He didn’t even pause “They gave me a baby.”





	1. Chapter One

I watched the wide window at the forefront of the store. What had started out as a pleasantly cool day had become black skied and windy. The wind whistled through the cracks in front door. I watched in the distance as the wind tossed sea became a living beat, waves lapping up the docks onto the sidewalks.  
  
Twisting my pale blonde locks around my finger I let my gaze remain on the growing tempest. In the distant reaches of my senses I heard a faint jingle. Turning slowly to the door to the break room swinging open. There stood Lars. His lanky frame leaned against the doorframe with a forced easy smile.  
  
“Hey Saide. We don’t seem to have anybody in. Anything you want me to do?” He asked slowly.  
  
“Not really Lars,” I moved my eyes back to the clean counter.  
  
Most conversations we had wen this way. The politeness was forced, professionalism kept at all times. He was just different now; and I didn't just mean visually. When he’d first stepped off that ship back onto the hot sand of the beach the light had made him look angelic. The faint pink glow around him had been nothing to me, the lumpiness of his shape, just an illusion, lost in the tears welling at the corners of my eyes. When I’d run forward, breaking through his parents there had been no thoughts.  
  
His name was on it’s way past my lips, my arms open.  
  
He’d yelped, practically screamed, scrambling back into the arms of another girl. To be fair it wasn’t exactly a typical girl. She’d had four arms, four eyes and maroon skin. My footsteps had stopped sand grating against my bare toes.  
  
“Lars?” I could hear the crack in my voice in my head still.  
  
He’d looked to the girl, a small group gathering around him, their faces fierce. The little one who looked like princess peach with overgrown bangs, a woman with two upper bodies and a terrifying worm like monster. All moved in front of him, hiding him away.  
  
“Girls,” Lar’s voice had been soft, lost it’s edge, lost its ferocity. They’d moved as if responding to a mental command. He moved from between them, looking at them each individually.  
  
“The girl will scare our Lars!” announced the small one, throwing her arms out to protect him. She hardly came to his hip.  
  
A small sprout of jealousy lifted its head deep within me.  
  
“It’s fine Padparadscha,” he comforted, lost behind the group.His tone was so patient. Then I saw him through the vanishing tears. He glow hadn’t been my joy. He was pink, skin dipped in bubblegum dye and hair like a puff of cotton candy. As for the odd lumps of his body, they were hardly existing.  
  
“Lars?” I asked again, echoing myself in a faint whisper.  
  
“Hi Sadie,” he greeted. His arms twitched but he didn’t offer another hug.  
  
It only got worse from there. Quiet Lars remained. He didn’t move back in with his parents, staying at the gem temple, staying with these new gems. I hardly ever saw him smile. He came into work but I never saw him sneaking drinks or donuts anymore. Lars was so different I was hardly ever sure it was him.  
  
The only time I saw him for real again was the first week he returned to work. He’d pulled the purple ‘Big Donut’ shirt on over his head, his pale pink back to me and his fingers trembling.  
  
“Morning Lars!” I greeted as cheerfully as possible, setting my bag down in the spare chair.  
  
He jumped ever so slightly and whirled to face me, the t-shirt still riding up his side, his hand balled in fists. The bumpy curves I’d seen when he’d arrived were now gone, an odd shimmering around his midsection.  
  
“It’s just me,” I held up my hands in surrender.  
  
“Right,” his smile was small. “Morning.”  
  
“Did you sleep okay?” I put my lunch into the fridge.  
  
He rubbed the back of his neck , the way he used to, something glinting on his wrist. “I don’t really need to do that anymore,” he admitted sheepishly.  
  
That stopped me short. “Really? How does that work?”  
  
His one armed shrug pushed the edge of his shirt back down. “I mean, I have to rest occasionally but I don’t really get sleepy.”  
  
“That must come in handy.”  
  
“Probably would’ve been easier in highschool,” he chuckled, the same laugh low in his chest, accompanied with that nice half smile.  
  
A weight in my chest warmed slightly. “It’s almost nine. Do you want to take the register or set out the donuts?”  
  
“I’ll set out the food,” he gave me a small thumbs up.  
  
“Really?” I asked, shocked. That job was more work and usually I had made him do it just to make him do something.  
  
He moved to the boxes. “Why not?”  
  
“Because you never want to do it.”  
  
“I guessed I missed it.” He moved past me snatching the keys from the counter and going to the front door. And just like that I’d lost him to that strange silence.  
  
And on that rainy day nothing had changed. Lars went over the outer counters, straightening the drinks and sweeping sprinkles off the surfaces.  
  
I watched him quietly, fingers absently tangling into my hair. For a second, just a second I thought I saw him waver. His steps halted mid stride, shoulders tensing. But when I blinked the hesitation was gone and he was moving on.  
  
Lars turned to the window, leaning back, hands resting on his hips. “This storm looks pretty bad. Do you think we should lock up?”  
  
Shaking my head I looked in the empty tip jar. “Not yet. We’ve only got a couple hours left anyway. Weather man says the storm should pass right over us.”  
  
Lars’s hand rubbed his lower spine slowly, almost absently. “I guess.”  
  
“Why?” I asked, eyebrow raised. Had lazy Lars finally returned?  
  
He moved back to me, dumping his small handful of spare sprinkles into his palm. “Just a little achy,” he said offhandedly.  
  
I watched his hands, unable to take my eyes away. Would it ever stop being interesting to see his pale pink skin? It was no different in pigment from the million other sunburns I saw during summer hours. But this was so different. The skin didn’t look injured, burned or anything less than perfect. The dusting of freckles he’d had across his knuckles were gone along with scars. It looked healthy, his fingers nimble.

* * *

 

I remembered the first time I’d seen those hands working again. He’d only been scrubbing down the glass. Still, I’d stopped, watching that smoothly skinned face, brows drawn in concentration. Even with that movement the skin didn’t crumple like it had, only creasing at the corners of his eyes. It was a timeless look. The perfection didn’t make him look like a child nor did did the maturity make him look any older. He simply looked timeless, from the top of his head to his feet he looked almost like a glass figure or a marble statue.  
  
“What?” he’d asked, catching my stare.  
  
“Where’d you get your bracelet?” I’d asked, unable to think of anything else. This was back when he’d hardly spoken to me, still too quiet. He hadn’t answered.  
  
“What?” Lars’s voice said again.  
  
Jumping slightly I looked up at him in a slight panic. “Just thinking.”  
  
“About what?” He brushed the last of the stray sugar from under his oval nails.  
  
“Your bracelet,” I lied again. “You never take it off.”  
  
He looked down at the silver band, the metal wrapped around his pink skin, reflecting slightly. There was a pale gem inlaid in it. While a delicately beautiful it wasn’t exactly feminine. It suited him.  
  
“It’s um,” he pulled the edge of his sleeve down across it, “it’s not really mine.”  
  
I hadn’t meant to ask him about it but now that he was on the topic my curiosity couldn't be quelled. “What do you mean it’s not yours? I’ve never seen it off you.”  
  
“I got it from the gems.”  
  
The little green monster I knew was there reared it’s head. “Oh?” I asked, biting my tongue.  
  
“Yeah,” he picked at the edge of his sleeve. “Pearl gave it to me when I was on- not on earth,” he took a quick turn in his sentence. “It helped me when I was there.”  
  
Lars looked on the edge of panic, his fingers clenched in fists, his face screwed up with something near pain.  
  
“You don’t have to tell me now,” I amended quickly.  
  
“Thanks,” he released the tension he’d been holding.  
  
I put a hand on his, amazed and touched he didn’t toss me off. “Lars? Promise me you will tell me someday?”  
  
He met my comfort smile with one of his own. “Sure Sadie. Someday.”  
  
His taut skin slowly relaxed under my touch. He didn’t try to move my grip. Closer to him then than I had been in weeks I finally found flaws in that timeless face. The bubblegum pink of his face had turned a sickly salmon, fading to a green at the corners. Lines had forced their way between his brows and the tips of his eyes.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All right. That is the first chapter of my first fanfiction on this website. I hope you enjoy. Please leave reviews!


	2. Chapter Two

“Lars are you okay?”  
  
My words were as good as any repellant, pulling him away. “I’m fine. I’m going to go sweep the back room.”  
  
“Okay,” I let him vanish into the back again. The weight in my stomach sunk lower. What was going on with him?  
  
My attention was quickly pulled away as the lightning flash outside took over the scene. Thunder rumbled like a monster, rolling across the city. The lights flickered above with the second blinding light before giving out entirely.  
  
I ran through the back to the backup power source. Smoke poured out the corners of the green box, rain hitting it as hard as bee stings. With a groan I went back inside, the wind slamming the door slamming behind me.  
  
“What’s going on?” Lars asked, on his feet, looking to me in alarm.  
  
“I think the storm just got worse.” I moved to the side of the room by the light of the emergency electric on the ceiling. It cast long shadows across the room, the shade a pale gold.  
  
Lars leaned back on the counter, hands clenched on the edge of the faux marble. “What do we do?”  
  
“Turn on the radio for emergency reports. I’m going to lock up the front and close the metal curtains. I’m worried about the glass.”  
  
He nodded, making no move.  
  
“Lars,” I snapped. “Quickly.”  
  
“Right, right,” he moved himself from the counter, steps unsteady as he went. I hardly had time to notice as I ran to the front to close everything up. I duct taped the fridge shut in a ditch effort to save the drinks and ice cream but I knew it was no use. With the backup broken and the storm rolling in faster there wasn’t a chance of saving them.  
  
“This is going to be a mess,” I muttered, running to finish my task.  
  
My last image of the ocean was watching the waves grow bigger, a small stream making its way down the street. Then I shut and locked the store front, pulling down the emergency metal curtains. They squeaked and groaned as the criss crossing metal moved. It hadn’t been shifted in over a decade. The weather hadn’t been this bad for as long as I could remember.  
  
“Sadie,” Lar’s voice called from the back. “You’ll want to hear this.”  
  
I ran back, closing the door to the breakroom. Lars ws sat at the table, the small toy radio in his hands.  
  
“-weather worsening.” The sober voice announced from the tiny box. “All beach side city occupants are advised strongly to stay indoors. Flooding warning and sightings have come in all along the shore lines. Those with access to higher ground should go there immediately. Electrical storm warnings have all been given. Please keep off all but emergency-” the signal turned to fuzz.  
  
“No, no, no,” Lars shook it, flipping the dial at the top. Nothing changed. It was all radio silence. He picked up the tiny creation and threw it across the room. The plastic covering burst into pieces against the wall, falling in a crumpled pile atop  
  
“How could that happen?” I bit my lip, not bothering to stop him.  
  
“Electrical storm.” Lars offered, his face still salmon colored.”Maybe something else. This radio is ancient.”  
  
“Is your phone working?”  
  
He shook his head while I checked.  
  
“No signal. I think everything is being thrown off.”  
  
I thought past our stranding. “Flood warnings. We could try and get out to higher ground.”  
  
“Good idea,” he pushed himself to his feet, following me to the back door. Before we’d arrived a monumental crash could be heard from outside. Lars became shade paler and ran to the door, trying to push it open. It didn’t budge, not a single inch.  
  
“What could’ve gotten stuck to it?” I asked, my own panic welling. I joined him at the door, pushing with all of my might.  
  
“It could be anything,” his voice reached a higher pitch. “From the sound of the crash it sounded like the donut sign on top.”  
  
I began to pace, leaving Lars to his fruitless efforts.  
  
“Okay. We can’t get out through the back. Let’s try the front.”  
  
He nodded, moving from the back entrance. I went out the break room door and into the shop before I realized Lars wasn’t with me. Whirling around I saw him half hunched in the doorway.  
  
“Lars? Lars what’s going on?”  
  
He opened his mouth, not meeting my gaze. All that escaped his lips as a half groan. Had he hurt himself? Had he run out of breath? I didn’t know it was possible.  
  
“Lars come on.” I grabbed his arm, moving to pull him.  
  
He groaned again, steps unsteady behind me. “Sadie something’s wrong.”  
  
Just what I needed. He was sick.  
  
Swallowing frustration I pushed the metal curtain up and looked out on the scape before me. It couldn’t have been more than a few minutes since I’d seen it last but now the street was flooded. Water ran thick and fast in the road, carrying with it trash, sand dirt and beach toys. I threw the door open and wind attacked us, sending rain like needles onto all exposed skin. I took steady steps across the soaking and slippery walk way to the edge of the curb. Tightening my grip on Lars’s arm I charged into the water. The current was strong, sending me in a sharp diagonal.  
  
“Gems,” Lars groaned again.  
  
“It’s too far,” she argued. “We need to get to my parent’s they’re closest.”  
  
He tugged limply on my arm, face screwed up in pain.  
  
I stood firm, pulling him back. Icey filthy water got into my socks, things bumping my legs. Wind ripped at my clothes, at my hair. I kept my hand over my eyes in a weak attempt to keep myself seeing.  
  
There was another bright flash of lighting and in the quick silver white light I saw the wave making it’s way down the road. “Lars hold onto something!” I yelled, moving back to the curb. We jumped on just in time. My free hand found a pole, an ineffective metal rod with the lights out like this. I held tight, bringing Lars to me. My face buried in his chest as the torrent swept past us. Had we been in the road I was sure the wave could've knocked me off my feet and down the docks. As it was the water still passed up to my knees, sending me off balance.  
  
Lars recovered himself just enough to wrap his arm around my shoulders. He pulled himself tight to me, my face against his chest. We hadn’t made it five feet from the Big Donut.  
  
The water slowed, the flow diverting back to its path, leaving us both soaked, me from the knees down and him at the shins. There was mud on his legs and I was sure I had cuts on mine.  
  
“Back to the Big Donut,” I gave in, releasing the pole and turning back. The cute little beachside shop looked like something from a horror movie. The awning had been stripped clean leaving metal spikes that hung down like teeth. The half raised metal curtain showed us the little light from inside. Atop the roof where the large circle had once stood proudly was a creation of metal sparks and flickering wires.  
  
I had no idea where the donut had gone and I had no intention of finding out.  
  
Blazing our trail back to the door I shoved him inside, closing the door and slamming down the metal curtain.  
  
Lars laid crumpled on the floor, panting but more with shock and terror. “What was that?” he managed finally, looking back up at me.  
  
“We’ve got a proper tropical storm out there,” I offered him a hand up. He took it but made no move to move to his feet.  
  
“Sadie we need to contact the gems,” Lars said again.  
  
“I’m sure they’re fine,” I said my comforting voice diminished by the snap of jealousy.  
  
He shook his head pulling himself up and closer to me. “I need to get to them. It’s important.”  
  
The wind howled beside us like an escaped banshee. “Later,” I pulled him into the backroom. “Check the door again.”  
  
He did as he was told, shoulders slumping. I followed him in, checking the seals on the break room door.  
  
“Sadie!” Lars squeaked.  
  
I whirled around to see my worst suspicion confirmed. Water was slowly leaking into the room, a muddy half sludge mixture that stunk like day old gym socks.  
  
“Get the old towels and the salt bags,” I ordered. “If the water is getting in here then the shop must be flooding too. And set out all the plastic tables. We’ll stay on those just in case.”  
  
Lars nodded, sluggishly moving to the cupboard. I pulled out two bags, throwing each over my shoulder. “The flour bags should work too, at least temporarily. I don’t think we have any sand.”  
  
“Hold on a second,” Lars grabbed my arms. He was kneeling in front of the cupboards. His expression had turned from panic to stone cold fear He was frozen in terror, unable to think, unable to make his body corporate.  
  
“Lars,” my voice broke. “Look I know you’re scared. I am too. But you need to buck up for ten minutes and help me safeguard this store. We’re going to be fine.”  
  
“No,” he shook his head. “You don’t understand. It’s something else.”  
  
“Then it’ll have to wait,” I sent him an apologetic glance. “We have to get ourselves safe first. Then we can figure out something else.”  
  
With the sacks still slung over my shoulder I moved to the store front again. Just as I’d known it would the entire tile floor was covered in nearly an inch of grimy water. Grabbing the old towels, the rest of the paper ones I left the salt bags on the counter and frantically did my best to get all the water soaked up. It worked well enough and once the salt and flour bags were set down the floor was only hardly damp. Without a good cleaning it would mold and my soul sunk deeper, thinking how much work it would take to fix this place.  
  
Until that moment I thought I’d managed my stress well, I’d thought quick, kept everything afloat so to speak.  
  
But that all changed when I heard the scream.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all your support on this story! I hope you enjoy the second chapter. I think there will be about ten but I'm not sure. Please leave feedback. I'm excited to hear what you think!


	3. Chapter Three

_Until that moment I thought I’d managed my stress well, I’d thought quick, kept everything afloat so to speak. But that all changed when I heard the scream._

It wasn’t the type of scream you hear in horror movies. This was different, bone crushing, soul shattering. It petered out to a guttural moan before it was over, finishing with a whimper.

“Lars!” I yelped, running back to him. He leaned against the counter, elbows on the counter, hands clasped. His entire body was trembling. He’d hidden his face with his arm, forehead pressed into the counter. “Lars what’s going on?” I was at his side instantly, my heart pounding wildly.

“We have to get to the gems,” Lars groaned again, his voice half lost in the sound of his shallow breathing.

I shook my head, “there’s no way out. The back is blocked and the front is flooding. Half this room is going to be in water if we don’t move quickly.”

His head turned a fraction of an inch and he looked up at me, a quiet desperation in his eyes. Tears made slow tracks down his cheeks.

“Lars, I don’t know what's going on but I need you to set up the tables. It’s just in case the water gets in anymore.”

He nodded numbly. I knew it wasn’t fair to make him do anything. Something was wrong with him. That scream had shaken me to my core. It had been the sound of gut wrenching pain but I didn’t see anything. He hadn’t indicated injury. He hadn’t shown any pain. Was it possible that this was a symptom of his stress? With a quick glance over to him I moved to grab the last of the sand and flour bags, placing a few in front of the backdoor along with a towel. It would hold for now. I’d have to find the tape. Lars did his best to repeat the chore at the break room door, his movements slow and his arms shaking. He just looked so pale.

Once he’d finished he moved to the small closet, tugging out the plastic picnic tables we used in the front sometimes. They were dusty but I knew from experience they were sturdy. I put a hand on his, pulling the legs down the squeaking metal row. I left them at their lowest height for stability. I doubted the water would get higher than four feet. And if it did- no I wasn’t going to think about that. Lars took a seat in one of the chairs, lost without an objective. I took the opposite chair, sitting right in front of him, pulling my knees right up against his.

“Now what’s going on?” I demanded without so much as an introduction. “I heard that scream before. Are you hurt?”

He tilted his head up, the pale golden light above us casting a strong shadow across his face.

“It was not a scream,” he argued. His hand moved absently to his side, his thumb rubbing into the place above his ribs.

“Are you hurt?” I pressed. Lars opened and closed his jaw for a while before shaking his head.

“I’m just frustrated and sc-” he stopped himself. I abandoned my chair, pulling him into a hug.

“I’m scared too.” His limp arms didn’t raise to return the hug. He didn’t pull away either, his cheek dropping onto my shoulder. The skin was cool, almost damp. He felt clammy, still shaking.

“We just need to keep ourselves occupied,” I offered. “I know of a few more things we can do to keep the room dry.”

“Just direct me,” he said hopelessly. I leaned back, thinking hard about every survival movie I’d ever seen.

“Well we need to figure out what we have, try and calculate how long we’ll be in here.”

“The storm was supposed to pass over us,” Lars offered, his voice becoming steadier. “So I shouldn’t last longer than a few hours. Then they’ll gather people to help with rescue. The gems will be the forefront of that.” he gnawed his lip. “If we can’t contact them they’ll assume we’re in our houses, on the other side of town.”

“Your friends will do the first thing they can to find you,” I said, an unexpected ice sliding into my tone.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” He turned on me, a fire kindling.

Stress pressed down, squishing out the last of my compassion.

“Exactly what I said!” I stood tall, glaring up at him. “The second they don’t have to cower inside they’ll be ripping open the roof to try and find you!”

“And what’s wrong with that?” he pushed back his wet hair, the damp curls sticking to his skin.

“Lets see, you’re hardly an adult and you moved out of you supportive parents house with only a part time job. But no, that’s not a problem because you live with literal aliens!”

“What does them being aliens have to do with it?” Lars’s hands balled into fists. “Steven’s lived with aliens practically his whole life!”

“He is one of them,” I argued, pointing a finger toward him. “You are not Lars. You’re a human being and you abandoned your own kind to live in space for nearly a year!”

“You think I chose to get stuck ten million lightyears from home with complete strangers?” He was screaming now, tears welling the corners of his eyes.

I jabbed him in the chest with my extended finger. “No. I don’t. But when you got back from being stuck with them you didn’t come back to your family, your friends. You stayed with the aliens, away from your fellow human beings.”

“But I’m not human anymore!” His voice cracked and he took a step back, trying to get away from me.

“What?” I froze in place.

“I’m not human anymore Sadie. I, I died on the Gem homeworld.”

“What are you talking about. You didn’t die. You’re here.”

He nodded, sitting on the plastic table, fingers pale on the edges. “I did. I died. No heartbeat, gone. Steven brought me back, somehow.” He placed a hand on his forehead, his throat tightening. “I still don’t understand it. But I did come back. Now…” his hand shifted absently to his chest, “now it’s different. I don’t eat, I don’t sleep, I don’t need anything I needed before. I feel so alien, so out of loop with my whole planet, like I’m vibrating at a different frequency. So when I came back I stayed with the people who felt like home. And it wasn’t, home isn’t with my parents anymore. I’m not who I was Sadie.”

My feet brought me closer to him, the jealousy in my chest squeezing at my heart. “Lars why didn’t you tell me this before?”

“I didn’t know how,” he sniffed, wiping his eyes on his sleeve. “You were so distant. I didn’t know how to talk to you, how I could ever make you understand what happened to me. Everything is so different now.”

“One thing didn’t change,” I said confidently.

“What’s that?”

“Me. I still care about you Lars. You were my best friend before you left and you’re my best friend now.”

He laughed, a bubble catching in his throat. “You mean it?”

“I do.” I lifted my arms a fraction, offering him a hug.

He didn’t take it, his body stiffening, his face turning flat.

“Why didn’t you try before?” I asked, rescinding my hug with red cheeks. “I would have listened. You know that.”

Still he didn’t respond, his spine slowly curling in on itself, bending his chin to his chest.

“Lars?”

“Ow,” he whimpered.

“Lars?”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for the comments and support. I didn't think this story would get as popular as it did. I know this chapter is short. My hope is they'll grow as the story goes on.


	4. Chapter Four

“Lars?” 

The flash of lighting outside managed to find its way inside. The white flashing light came through the corners of the doors, the vent above and flicked the golden light above. Thunder came right on top of it, rolling across the room like the growl of a massive beast. And that force of nature acting like a trigger. 

Lars curled in on himself, his spine giving up its support. He slipped from the table, dropping to his knees on the floor with a guttural moan. He couldn’t even form words. 

Alarm trumped everything and I put my hands on his shoulder, crouching to look him in the face. “Lars!”

His arms reached out, wrapping around my neck. I held him tight, trying to recover my air. Panic was compressing my lungs, short circuiting my brain. All I could hear was his guttural breathing, his all encompassing pain. How had I ignored this before? Something was seriously wrong with him.

For a heart shuddering moment I thought he might be having a stroke, or a panic attack. What if something was deathly wrong with him. What if it was something our little outdated first aid kit wouldn’t be able to even help with?

After what felt like an hour his tight fingers slackened. Lars dropped back onto his knees, head back against the small plastic table. His face was flushed to fusha, sweat beaded on his forehead. His long low breaths made his entire thin frame shake like a leaf. 

“L-Lars,” I tried to recover my voice, eyes taking in his full face. “Lars you have to tell me what’s going on. I can’t help you if you don’t tell me what’s going on.”

He shook his head, mouth becoming a thin white line. 

“Lars,” I begged. “You’re obviously seriously hurt. We need to get you serious medical care.”

“I have to get back to the gems. They’re the only ones who know what to do,” he rambled, his eyes still mostly closed. The corner of his mouth opened as he spoke, all his breathing shallow, coming out in low gasps. “They’ve done this before. They can help. They know,” he paused a second, half a second of pain flitting across his face.

“Well they're not here,” I squared my shoulders. “You’ve got to tell me what happened to you. Once I know what we’re dealing with I can see what I can do,” I put his arm over my shoulder, helping him back onto the metal folding chair. “What happened? How did did you get hurt? What-?”

“Who,” he stated, slowly shifting, dropping his head in his hands. “It’s not a what. It’s a who.”

“Who hurt you? You might have internal bleeding or something.”

His dark laugh rumbled like the thunder in his chest. “No human being did this to me. It was the diamonds.”

“What are you talking about?”

He looked up, his eyes so bloodshot they matched the hue of his skin. “Get the emergency blankets and the spare tablecloths,” he said suddenly. 

I nodded slowly and went to do as I was told. Lars stood on shaky knees and gathered the chair cushions and dropped them onto the driest corner of the floor. I joined him with the blankets, lying next to his half prone figure. He’d sat down, leaning against the wall, his unsteady fingers linked across his navel. Giving him the warmest blanket I sat awkwardly an inch away. 

Absently he curled closer, our shoulders touching. “It was about three months before I came back from homeworld,” he began. 

I closed my eyes, trying to imagine I was laying under the stars, a campfire next to me, the sound of wind a little gentler in my ears. Lars was good at telling stories no matter what kind they were. On an overnight trip in high school he’dd once kept half the class up with ghost stories. And when little Clary Hall had begun to cry for fear he’d moved to her side, weaving a soft love story and talking until she’d fallen asleep. 

But this was not a love story. This was a horror story, made all the more awful by the fact every word had been experienced. 

“We were in the underground tunnels, all five of us. Steven wasn’t there.”

 

I saw it. The scene unfolded. The high rock walls, the shapes of bodies emerging from the craggy stone was so familiar now it was more like wall paper. Fluorite curled around the small group of resting gems. Lars was laying against her side, sharing stories like he always did, his voice echoing slightly across the empty hall. 

Rhodonite rested her fluffy head on her stronger arms, the thinner limbs slowly twiddling her thumbs. Padparadscha sat primly next to Lars, her little head on his shoulder, occasionally bumped as he gestured. The rutile twins was asleep, trying to escape the tense air and the fear clenching in their gut. 

Everyone knew the situation was bad. This part of the tunnels wasn’t safe. It was too close to the diamonds, too close to danger. Any misstep, any word too loud would alert those nearby. But they had to be there, they had to know what was going on. If they could find out what their enemy was planning they would be safer in the long run. 

Padparadscha began to repeat parts of the story, her voice rising too loud. 

The robanoids came upon them too fast. 

 

“We couldn’t see a way out,” Lars moved closer to me, his arm squashed between us. “There were so many of them I couldn’t keep the others safe. I made them go into the pocket.”

“Pocket?” I interrupted hesitantly. 

“You know how Steven’s lion has that space in his mane.”

I nodded slowly. Steven had told me about that. How lion had been his mother's lion, how she had kept things there like her sword, her flag and things she’d collected in her time on earth.   
He’d described the pale pink long grass, how the whole place had swayed despite having no air at all. He’d told me about the tall tree, its sparse leaves but how it had still cast shade from the gentle light above. 

“What does that have to do with anything?”

He lowered his head, guiding my hand to the tuft of cotton candy hair atop his head. My half a second of confusion melted into frozen shock as the tips of my fingers, instead of brushing curly locks, went through, into a warm open area. The giant glowing line around the skin was pleasantly cool. 

“Lars!” I yelped. “What in the!?”

“When I, when I died,” he paused, still struggling to get all the words out, “when steven brought me back it really messed me up. I’m connected to that lion somehow. It was how Steven was able to travel between homeworld and earth. I have that little pocket.”

“S-So,” I tried to get his story back on track. “So the other gems went into this pocket.”

“The robanoids can only sense gems, that’s all they can see. I’m invisible to them. So when they hide in there we can hide. But they can't always stay.”

“Why not?” I asked. “It sounds like the perfect hiding spot.”

“Have you ever been stuck behind enemy lines with giant women who want to murder you?” his voice fell flat. “Now imagine you’re alone.”

“Oh,” I whispered. I couldn't imagine. I couldn’t imagine that constant terror, the feeling of being hunted like a fugitive. 

“That and it gives me a headache when people are walking around in my head. I was always able to tell when steven was making a visit. It made my skull ahce.”

“I’m sorry,” I looked up to his flat mop of unassuming hair again, slightly in awe. 

“Nothing to be sorry for,” he shrugged. “It isn’t your problem.”

“So what happened then?” I asked, excited to hear the rest.

Lars settled back down, his ankle wrapping around mine. He leaned head back agasint the wall and tried to find the words. “I ran from the robanoids. I thought I’d evaded them..”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for all your love and support of this story. I'm so sorry it took so long to be posted. I'm hoping to start having my chapters be a little longer.   
> Of course, now with the new trailer out for the rest of the season this is AU but I think everyone kind of guessed that. Enjoy and leave comments please!


	5. Chapter Five

 

 

The story blended back into their vivid pictures. I heard his frantic steps. The soles were wearing through, barely holding on. He rounded corners hiding from the blood red spotlights. Each time they vanished he’d look out only to find a dozen more and he was forced to run all over again. They seemed able to sense him. A few times his pants or shirt caught on the rough stone, tearing away the corners of the fabric. 

 

“Then I hit something, something, s-” he stopped, the color in his face fading to a mottled puce. He grabbed at my arm, head dropping to my shoulder.   
I held him tight, fear eating away at him. How long had he been in this pain? If the diamonds had done this to him nine months ago had he been in this much pain since then? How had I not noticed before? Was I so calloused to him I’d ignored his suffering?

Lars got over this new wave quickly. The stiff pain meted to a quiet trembling, his breathing slow and controlled. 

“Lars?” I asked softly.

“I’m okay,” he breathed. “Just give me a second.”

I waited, holding onto him, wishing I could do something, anything more. 

He sat back up slowly, picking at the edge of his bracelet again. “I’m good,” he smiled at me softly. “Where was I?”

“Something about you running into something?”

He nodded, closing his eyes. Despite his insistence he was okay his skin still had not returned to the bright bubblegum color. “I don’t remember exactly. The next things I clearly remember was waking up in the dark.”

I saw it as the story continued to unfold. 

 

His head lifted from the metal table below, the air cold and still, the way it always felt in homeworld. At first he was confused, unsure what was going on, he couldn't find his friends, couldn’t see if anyone was there at all. Slowly the fog of unconsciousness lifted, bringing with it the fear of insecurity. 

As his mind cleared he could feel the thick bands holding him down, restricting all movement. Heavy metal chains held down his ankles and wrists, holding them down in a prone starfish position. 

“Hello?” His voice echoed around him, filling the chamber with echos. “Fluorite?” He closed his eyes again, making no difference in the pitch black room. “Rhodonite?”

There was no ache in his head. They weren’t there anymore. 

He tried to move again, and felt an earth shattering pain in mid section. It felt like someone had stuck a sword through his lower stomach. His voice, caught of guard squeezed shut, only letting out a fraction of his strangled scream. the metal clinking louder than he could ever force his voice to be. Above him a blindly bright light flickered to life. He saw vague shapes in the corners of the room, all still silent. 

Was he being watched?

“Who's there?” He asked again, unable to get the words out clearly. 

“This is not ideal,” a haughty voice sid quietly. 

“The experiment has been done to the best of our current abilities. The new rose quartz has powers we have never seen before. She has too much in common with the humans.”

“We do not know the inner workings of organic life,” a voice similar to the first spoek up. 

“My diamond,” said a voice, far closer to him. “The human has woken up.”

“Good,” a higher voice said. He heard the rustle of a moving body. He knew that voice, where had he heard that voice before. 

Lars blinked away the bright lights, the pain he’d been feeling slowly coming to a throb without his movement. 

The face above him was ten times bigger than any other he’d seen. Still blurred around the edges and marred by the bright lights shining down his eyes. It was bright yellow Her face had sharp dark brows drawn down over large compassionless eyes. 

“It survived the procedure then,” then sniffed. “Good.”

“Where would you like to place us until the trial is over?” Asked the first voice tentatively. “The zoo?”

“No,” the woman above him snapped. “Those are hardly human anymore. They are a spineless breed, little more than cockroaches. These new humans have more to them Perhaps that is why the quartz became so enamoured with them. They must have evolved.” she appraised Lars while he tried to wrap his tongue around the thoughts sprouting out of fear. “This one is proof. It survived.”

He knew this one, the large woman who they addressed with such terror and respect. This was Yellow Diamond. 

“Wh-What did you do to me?” Lars asked. His throat, now releasing its constraints now felt raw. 

They didn’t answer him, continuing to talk among themselves. 

Lars tried to struggle again, fighting the sharp spikes digging into his skin. He tugged hardest at his arm retrains, trying to lose his thin wrists from the sharp edged metal. 

“My diamond,” one voice whispered, just near enough for him to hear. “The human may cause harm to the implant.” It may be prudent to inform-yellow diamond looked down past her nose at Lars, huffing with impatience.

“Tell it whatever you want. Just make sure it doesn’t remove itself from the bands.”

Lars felt his throat catch, shutting himself up in the faintest hopes he would get real answers. 

The other gem, half the diamond’s size at most lowered the table, the light distancing itself from him. Something black was dropped across his eyes and his limbs, once starfished, were now snapped shut at his sides, legs too tightly bound together. 

The sound of rusted wheels squeaked. There was rocking unsteady movement. 

“Where are you taking me?” Lars demanded. “What did you do to me?”

“Shut it up,” sniffed a quiet voice above me. “We have enough gas to keep it down until the procedure has run its course.” Lars was knocked out into nothingness.

 

Lars paused in his story, not screaming with pain but his entire body stiffening with it. By now he’d wound himself around and with me. His arm had locked around mine, our feet tangled below the covers and his hip so close to mine he was nearly sitting on me. 

I could feel the progression of the pain through Lars’s body next to mine. The stiffness became almost icelike frigidity. He pushed himself closer to me, dropping his forehead on my shoulder. 

As the pain mounted he whimpered, a half strangled sob escaping his lips. 

I waited, holding him tight, trying to be any kind of help. I was too scared to ask him anything while he was like this, afraid anything I did would make it worse. 

Slowly his body relaxed, sagging against the wall, his energy waning. 

“Lars?’ I asked hardly above a whisper. 

“Hmm?”

“What happened after that?”

He didn’t move his head from my arm. His eyelids brushed against my sleeve and I knew he had yet to open his eyes. “Nothing.”

“What?”

“I woke up near the others. They said they’d found me in the tunnels. I have no idea what happened inside,” he leaned his head back against the wall. “From what I heard Yellow diamond shattered over a dozen gems trying to figure out where I’d gone.”

My jaw stuck on a hinge for a moment as I tried to come to terms with that startlingly anticlimactic resolution. “But what happened? What did they do?”

“They put something in me,” his lids opened a fraction, gaze pointedly avoiding me. 

Tension built in me. “Lars what did they do to you?” I couldn’t help but put my hand to his pale cheek, the edge of my thumb only just under the scar vertical cut across his eye. “Y-you haven’t been hurt like this the whole time have you?” Emotion clogged my throat. “You haven’t been in this much pain since you came back. Have you?”

Lars opened his mouth, caught off guard by my words.

That was the only confirmation that I’d needed. Tears spilled over my cheeks, gathering at my chin and quickly dropping to my knees. “Lars I’m so sorry. Y-You were hurting and I wasn’t there. I wasn’t helping you.”

“Sadie,” he sat up, alarmed. “No, no, no. It's not like that. You didn’t do anything.”

“That’s the point.” I sobbed. “I didn’t do anything. You’ve been hurting like this and I-I…” I couldn’t get out anymore words. 

Lars pulled me close to him. “Sadie you’re fine. You did everything fine. It hasn't been like this the whole time. It took so long to figure out and when we did it was just so complicated. I didn’t know what to say to you or my parents so I just never-” he pulled back, shaking fingers scrambling at the edge of his bracelet. 

“Lars what are you doing?” I wiped the sleeve of my shirt across my eyes.

“They didn’t put anything bad in me. They figured out, or thought they’d figured it out,” he rambled, still picking at the metal band. “They were trying to duplicate it. Pearl thinks they succeeded. So she gave me this illusionment.”

I put my hand across his. “Lars. What are you talking about? What did the gems put in you.”

Lars looked me in the eyes. “They put another gem.”

“What are you talking about?”

“They put a gem, a person gem in me.”

I shook my head, still not catching on. “How? Is there gem dust in your lungs or something?”

“No. They gave me a whole new gem, like Steven.” He didn’t even pause “They gave me a baby.”

The idea, the mere notion of it was so ridiculous I leaned back, taking him in. “You’re pregnant?” I managed. Then I broke into giggles. 

This being the exact opposite of what Lars was expecting he flushed deep red. “S-Sadie why are you laughing? This isn’t funny!”

“Lars you can’t be serious?” I demanded, laughing hard enough to start crying again. “That’s not possible. For one you're a boy. And second,” I broke into giggles again. 

Lars, still flushed the shade of a fire truck began to tug at the bracelet. “You want proof? Here’s proof!” The metal bracelet clattered to the floor, skittering away under the table. 

I stopped laughing. 

Before me, on the rough tile floor of the backroom of the big donut, his legs were spread to try and accommodate for the mass of his expanded stomach that had seemingly appeared out of nowhere. His waist line had doubled in size, belly button creating a pimple near the base.He leaned back, trying to accommodate for the new weight that had suddenly become much more apparent. 

My brain quickly tied to scramble to a comparison. The last I could remember was Vidalia’s pregnancy with Onion, or the various tourists I’d seen come through the shop. Compared to some of the women I’d seen the one before me seemed tiny, hardly more than half a watermelon glued to his skin.

I didn’t move, I couldn’t move.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone for reading. I'm sorry this chapter took so long to post.


	6. Chapter Six

I didn’t move, I couldn’t move. The most I could do was look up to Lars’s face, eyes widening. “You, you’re really pregnant?” I squeaked, amusement dying instantly. 

He nodded, his face still flushed. 

Then a slightly more horrifying realization hit me. “Lars. Lars these pains you’ve been having please, please don’t tell me that you’re,” I tried to find my air. 

He nodded again, his voice small, matching my fear. “I think I’m going into labor.”

I let the pause stretch between us, trying to process the bucket load of information that had been dumped on me. 

Finally I spoke, finding my first question.

“How?”

“Which part?” He kept his arms poker straight at his sides.

“Labor. You don't have the… you can’t exactly have it traditionally,” heat was boiling me up. 

“I can. S-something the gems enabled, the good ones. Pearl got a transference thingy in me,” he spoke quickly. “It’ll feel traditional. I have to get it through my hips but it’ll pass through the skin I guess. The kid is going to kind of phase out from,” he gestured vaguely downward. “I tried not to ask too many questions.”

“You’re in labor,” I breathed again. 

Lars shifted on the floor. “I think so.”

“We need to get you back to the gems.”

He nodded, a tired smile on his face. “That’s what I’ve been trying to say.”

I began to pace back and forth across the ground, brows furrowed. “How do we get out?” I muttered. “The back is impossible. We can’t get the door open. The sign fell in front of it. The front is too flooded.”

Lars shifted on the floor, trying to hide his pain behind a mask. “I wish I could be more help.”

“You just try and relax.” I held up my hands. “I’ll figure something out.”

He laughed under his breath. “I wish I could tell you how many times I wish I’d heard that.”

I snorted. “Lars just because you didn’t have an excuse didn’t stop you from doing nothing.”

He looked down, face flushing again. “Yeah. I know. Sorry about that”

That stopped me in my tracks. “The great Lars admitting he was wrong? What world am I on?” I tried to smile, only to catch his wince. “Oh right,” I felt the color drain from my face, guilt knotting my insides. “Sorry. That’s a bad joke.”

“It does take on new meaning when it’s literal,” he said with another weak attempt at a smile. 

I turned, determined to change the subject. We had go get him out, you to someone who knew what they were doing. One internship at a health clinic hadn’t been useful. My only experience with babies was a summer when I’d been twelve, my mother’s attempt to get me interested in a healthcare profession. If anything it had only deterred me. 

Giving my head a quick shake I moved to the back door and gave it an experimental push. As expected it didn’t budge an inch. 

“Maybe,” I spoke as the thought formed, trying to sound it out. “If I could find a way out through the front I could move the blockage?”

“No!” Lars sat poker straight, his cheeks draining of color, leaving him looking like lemonade. “You can’t go out there alone.”

“What other choice do I have?” I demanded, placing my hands on my hips. “You can’t just stay here. I don’t know how to help. All I have to do is make my way around the side, staying close to the wall then-”

“No,” Lars said firmly. He braced himself against the two walls beside him, trying to push himself to his feet. He seemed strong enough, just unable to find the right angle. 

“Lars, you shouldn't,” I moved to his side, a hand on his arm. 

“What happens if you get swept away?” He asked, “or what if you get hurt?” his chest shuddered with his panicked breathing. “Sadie I know it’s freaky and weird but if this is really happening I need you. Please. I can’t do this by myself.” his hands gripped the fabric of my shirt, knuckles turning white. “Just stay with me.”

I gnawed on my lip. But if I was this scared then I couldn't even imagine how he was feeling. Lars’s face was still pale, his joints stiff. It took a great deal of effort not stare at his extended stomach. 

Finally I met his eyes, desperate and filled with terror. “I’ll stay,” I promised. “But we need to keep trying to contact them.” 

Lars nodded, his body stiffening with a new wave of pain. His fingers twisted on the arm of my shirt. 

“You should sit back down.” I tried to help him back down. 

Lars shook his head violently. “It’s hurting as much as the..” he trailed off, still unwilling to say the word. 

“Contractions?” I squeezed his hand, helping him stay upright as the pain passed slowly by. “It’s okay Lars. If you really are going to have the baby here then we need to be on the same terminology.”

He relaxed slowly, leaning heavily on me. “You’re the boss,” he breathed. 

“Would it be better to keep standing or do you want to sit down?”

“Wish we’d gotten a couch for the break room.” Lars smiled at me. “I kept saying we should.”

“And I said you'd only use it to sleep on the job,” I argued lightly. Tightening my grip around his back I pulled him to me, trying to keep him upright. 

“I would not,” he shot back, his smile widening. “I wanted it so we’d have something better to sit on than those awful folding chairs. And I know you used to take naps on the napkins and-” he cut himself off, jaw stiffening. 

“Lars?” I looked alarmed. There couldn’t be another one so quickly. “Are you okay? Is it a contraction?”

“Mmmm,” he shook his head, humming slowly to keep himself steady. “No. It’s just kicking. Hitting my spine,” he shifted from foot to foot. 

“Let’s find you a chair,” I walked slowly with him to the side of the room to the best chair. It was only a folding chair but this one at least had a bend to its seat. Helping him into it I grabbed a chair for myself, the legs dragging pale water trail across the tiles. 

Lars had his eyes opened, thought they were glazed, he had his arms crossed across his stomach, trying his best to keep a flat expression. 

“How bad does it hurt?” I asked, unable to stop myself. 

“On what scale?” he asked, his voice low and lacking energy. 

Adjusting my chair so I was across for him I shrugged. “I guess the standard one to ten. One being a poke and ten being… the worst thing.”

“Right now?” he blinked and shifted his gaze from the dim ceiling. “Probably a three. It’s like a muscle ache, nothing I’m not used to.”

“A-Are they really moving?” 

“You think I’d know,” he grumbled, the corner of his mouth lifting. “But yeah.”

“Could I?” I held out a hand. 

His cheeks turned red. “You’re at least nicer than Padparadscha. She touches then asks,” he chuckled. “Sure,” he offered his hand to me. Our hands touched and I did my best to keep my face wiped of emotion. Carefully he placed the tips of my fingers along the warm taut skin of his newly oversized stomach. We waited a moment then a sharp kick, like a poke from inside, reached my touch. 

My small gasp escaped without my permission. 

Lars laughed, the movement shaking my hand. “It’s not that amazing,” he said, brushing away my quiet amazement. “It’s been happening to people forever.”

“I’m pretty sure this is the first gem baby born to an undead boy though,” I said lightly. 

His smile didn’t flicker and he settled into his seat. At least for now he seemed comfortable though I wasn’t sure if it was just him getting used to me or his pain pausing. 

“If you put it like that,” he brushed his hand through his short hair, fingers sliding through the still damp pink hair. 

“L-Lars?” I hesitated, terrified to break the trust so tenuously set up. 

“Yes?”

“How does that work?” I gestured up to his cotton candy locks. At his look of confusion I continued. “I mean sometimes it’s normal hair and other times it's that portal thing.”

He opened his mouth, waited a moment and shut it. “You know I’m not entirely sure. I think it’s a portal expect when I brush it, or think of his as hair I guess. It’s not really a thing of concentration or conscious thought.”

“Weird,” I smiled with one half of my mouth. 

A wild crack of thunder shook the building, clogging my ears and making the lights flicker. I clapped my hands over my ears, only causing more damage to my hearing. I’d gone nearly deaf, the faintest of buzzing in the far reaches of my mind.

Distantly I heard a metallic clatter which my eyes tried to adjust to. One of the long thin bulbs had shorted, leaving half of one still functional. It was so dark I could hardly see Lar’s outline. In fact I couldn't see his outline at all?

“Lars?” I called. I couldn’t hear my own voice, desperately trying to pop my ears. “Lars?” 

The flicker of a shadow caught my attention and looked to the floor. Lars was on his back, eyes squeezed shut, face too white to even look pink anymore and his entire position contorted in pain. His mouth was open but if it was screaming or just trying to breathe I couldn’t be sure. 

“Lars!” I dropped to my knees next to him, my fingers trying to pull his head into my lap. He bat them off weakly. His chest was hitching and his eyes screwed shut. “Lars!” I put a hand on his shoulder. 

He mouthed something and I froze, trying to decipher it. 

“What?” 

He tried again, the words clearer. They didn’t even register in my damaged hearing. Either he was whispering or he really was only mouthing the words. 

‘Stop yelling.’

I flushed and did my best to lower my tone, even with my non functioning ears. “What happened?”

He shook his head, unable to speak, his face still twisted in nothing less than agony. Was this a contraction? Or had he really hurt himself? He had been on a chair before the lights flickered. Now there he lay, on his back, looking like he might throw up. Had he fallen?

So there we waited. His pain never seemed to abate, even after several minutes of deafness. I moved my jaw, trying to unclog my ears. With a painful pop my hearing returned in one flood. 

The lights above buzzed like an electric razor. Thunder rumbled again. At least the lightning seemed to have missed us. Water rushed past the door like a river. Worst was the sounds from the boy in front of me. A faint whimper was the only noise he seemed able to make. Not a fabric rustled, his stone like limbs didn’t move, fingers gripped in fists tight enough to draw blood. 

“Lars?” I whispered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry this took so long. I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Please, please please send me reviews. It makes chapters faster. If you have requests for the next chapters please send them my way.


	7. Chapter Seven

“Lars?” I whispered.

The whimpering stopped and his tear glazed eyes looked up at me. “I fell,” his voice caught in his throat, coming up a weak bubble of sound. “The light, it sparked. I jumped and the chair collapsed,” he took a shuddering breath. “Kn-knocked the wind out of me. I didn't think that could happen.”

“That was almost ten minutes ago,” I glanced at the now dimly lit clock on the wall. 

“I know,” he still didn’t move but at least his fingers had loosened their grip. “It still hurts.”

Fear struck its own barb of lighting. “Is it the baby? Are they still moving? Is it more like a cramp or-”

“Breathe,” he smiled weakly, which did more for my nerves than his words. “They’re still moving. I just bruised my hips. I think I scared myself more than I hurt myself.”

I let out some pent up tension. “Do you… want to try getting up?”

“Lying down hurts less than the chairs.”

I grabbed at one of the threadbare tablecloths and made a pillow for him, sensing he’d be there a while. His eyes closed again and, even though I knew he didn't need to, he kept breathing. His chest rose and fell so steadily I thought he’d fallen asleep. 

I stayed quiet and took stock of our supplies. We had a good sized first aid kit with painkillers, bandages and a few other things. I found a ton of paper towels and napkins. The remains of the drinks added to five sodas and over a dozen water bottles. I kept them all on the counters, concerned we may need them before long. I took the rest of the more ragged looking washcloths and towels and placed them next to the door. We had a few spare metal bowls and metal serving trays which I didn't see any use for. The only other things in the upper cupboards were cleaning fluids and batteries. 

I switched to the cupboards below where I found a gold mine. 

“Blankets,” I whispered. Several shock blankets and a large thick quilt had been lost behind spare boxes. I had no clue how they'd gotten there. Who would have left such a nice blanket in a donut shop? 

And hidden behind the blankets… a lantern. A gas lit, near full heavy industrial lantern. “Oh my-” I cut myself off, heaving it out onto the counter. It was perfect, huge. 

“What is it?” Lars had turned his head to me, a faint sheen of sweat across his face again. He’d had another contraction. They were coming faster now. My joy froze again until I forced a smile. “I found a lantern. We need some more light.”

He nodded, a weak smile coming to him. “I think there are some unused glowsticks in the utensil drawer.” Lars looked back up to the ceiling.

“Glow sticks?” I went to the place indicated and found several glow sticks just as he’d said, all tucked behind plastic forks and spoons. “Why in the world are there glow sticks?” I giggled. 

“Sour Cream brought a ton by when I first started working here,” Lars shifted his hips slowly. “He said they were his payment for his donut, that I could sell them when he became a famous DJ. I was so shocked he was talking to me I just panicked.” 

I continued laughing, cracking a green one and curling it around the small analog clock. “How many donuts did he take?”

“Just three I think.”

“Three? For this many glow sticks?” I looked down at the small handful of plastic cylinders. 

He shrugged, grinning with embarrassment. 

It was nice to see him smile. But he still looked so tired. We’d only been trapped in the back for an hour. 

What if his was faster was faster than normal labors? How was this different than the ones I’d seen during my nurse internship? Or worse what if it was longer. We could be here for over twelve hours and he would be in pain the whole time. I froze where I was. What if something went wrong? What if the baby came out the wrong way around? Or,even worse, what if the baby got stuck? Boy’s hips weren’t designed for this. Would Lars d-die? Could he even die again? What if he just stayed here, the baby stuck, dead or dying in him while he tried to vain to-

“Sadie?” Lars’s tired whisper reached to me, freeing all my thoughts with new fears. 

“Yes?” I hurried to his side, grabbing his hand instinctively. 

“You’re panicking,” he whispered. “You can’t be freaking out more than me.” 

I flushed. “Remember how I said that I interned at that little health clinic at beach town a few miles over?”

He nodded. “You told me about it a while ago. I don’t remember much of what you said.”

“Well sometimes they had women in labor come in.”

Lars looked up with hope blossoming in his face. “So you know how to help me?”

“S-Sort of. I remember a little,” I said. 

I could actually see him relaxing, his shoulders dropping, his muscles melting. 

“I don’t know everything,” I protested quickly. “I only know a little. Mostly, mostly I know what could go wrong.”

The lines of his face returned, deepening in despair. “Do you know how to prevent them?”

“A few.”

He squeezed my hand which was still entangled in his. “That’s still better than what I thought. You know something. You’re strong. You can help me.”

“I’ll try,” I hesitated, not wanting to promise anything I couldn’t deliver. 

“Thank you,” he shifted a hand to the tablecloth gather at the back of his head as a pillow. “Could you find another one of these for my back?”

“I’m sure,” I smiled, doing my best to stay steady as I moved to grab the second tablecloth. “I found a really good quilt too if you get cold.”

Offering my hand to him I helped him slowly to a sitting position. His teeth grit but he made no complaint as he shifted. 

Curling up the cloth I set it below his back, trying to create the best bed I could make him. Lars’s spine curled and he rested his arms on his knees, shoulders rising and falling with his unsteady breaths. 

“I think that’s the best I can do,” I rubbed the back of my neck, helping him back to the floor. 

“Thanks Sadie,” he smiled at me. Slowly he laid back down though he knees stayed up, feet flat on the ground. 

I crossed my legs, staying at his side, turning to face him, my knee nearly touching his hip. “Is that any better?”

He shifted, sliding a little on the ground. “Mhmm,” he mumbled. He rested an arm across his eyes. 

“You’re still hurting,” I said, my shoulders dropping. “Is it another-?”

“No,” he cut me off halfway through. “It’s weird actually. It’s not a pain really it's just,” he paused, his free arm resting at his hip, rubbing it slowly. “I guess it’s the kid. It’s just like a pushing against my hips.”

My stomach clenched. “Lars… no offense but you’re not a particularly wide hipped person.”

“I’m not sure if you’re trying to insult me or not,” He lifted his arm and looked at me with one eye.

I held up my hands quickly. “No! No, I’m not. It’s just, women are able to give birth because they have wider hips, that’s how the baby fits. I’m not sure if you can have a baby physically.”

He looked down, incredulously enough not as panicked as I would’ve expected him to be. “There are a lot of things about that shouldn’t be possible.” His legs shifted a millimeter wider, like he was subconsciously trying to make room. “Like number one being I’m a guy. I don’t have any of the organs needed. Second being I’m dead, usually a pretty big problem.” His voice began to get away from him and I made no effort to stop him. “Pearl thinks that might be the reason it worked. It really helps that I’m dead. I don’t need to eat or breathe really, expect to calm myself down. It’s like a useless habit.” A wild mix of panic and pain began to take him over. “It doesn't matter how many organs were squashed or removed to put the little gem in there because they're not needed. I’m surprised they didn’t just cut my limbs off too. I was just there to push the kid out!”

“Lars,” I admonished quietly. “This was a mistake sure,” I paused. “I mean, this yellow diamond woman was scary, trying to make another half gem or whatever it was she was trying to do. But for here, right now, there is a baby, a real baby. And no matter how much of a gem they are it is still a baby. We need to worry about how they’re getting out for now. Then you’ll have them.” Another awful thought struck me. “You do want the baby don’t you?”

“No, of course not. I could never.”

“Lars.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my gosh I am so sorry that this took nearly a full month. Things have been crazy. Please let me know what you think. I know this is a short chapter.


	8. Chapter Eight

“You do want the baby don’t you?”

“No, of course not. I could never.”

“Lars.”

Lars crossed both of his arms over his face, taking a long low sigh. “To be honest?” he looked up at me hopelessly. “Absolutely. No matter how much I complain,” a small smile flickered across his face, “about everything, if I hadn’t happened like this I wouldn’t have them now. I talked with the others.” I took the others to mean his small group of off color gems and the crystal gems. “Pearl says if it ends up being more gem than human they’ll raise it. If it’s more human or entirely human they’ll find a family they know, preferably one in beach city.”

“Do you get a say?” I asked. “Did they even let you have a say?”

“I, all I was able to get in was I’d like to see them, make sure they're okay.”

“Is that all you want?” I tried to meet his gaze. He didn’t look up

“There aren’t a lot of people in beach city, even fewer looking for kids.”

“Well, where else could they go and still be nearby?”

“What about you?”

He winced. ”Sadie I couldn’t be a parent. I could never be a good one. I’m lazy and awful and so damaged.” His voice caught in his throat and he shook his head. 

“You know that’s not true,” I argued, pushing as much honesty into my tone as I could. “Lars you’d be a fantastic parent. Besides, how could you force yourself to stay away from them?”

He opened his mouth, though he didn’t seem to have any words ready. He froze, his muscles stiff, eyes glazed, pointed toward nothing. For all his terror he didn’t seem to be in any excess pain. 

“Lars?”

He looked down. At his legs, a clear liquid spread across the floor. Flipping my head around I looked at the door to the outdoors. There were no leaks in the doorstop of cloth and tape. Looking above I tried to find anywhere the water may have dropped in from the raging storm outside. 

Then I looked back to him, lost. The stain seemed to be spreading down each pant leg. In the months since he’d gotten back I hadn’t seen him eat or drink a single thing. This could only have one solution.

“Lars?”

His face had gone white, eyes wide. 

Slowly my brain tried to return to a functioning state. 

“I-I think my water broke,” he met my eyes. “That’s what it’s called, right?”

I nodded, trying to find the words. “Uh, um, there’s nothing for you to change into. You should probably take off your jeans now though.” I froze. “You are wearing underwear right?”

His cheeks, so pale before turned to a ruby red. “It’s not something you won’t have to see soon anyway.”

“Lars!” 

“I’ve got boxers on,” he grumbled. With difficulty he pushed himself into a sitting position and leaned against the drawers behind him. Slowly he began to unlace his shoes, reaching up to put them on the counter behind him. Had this been anything but an emergency I would have argued about food safety and germs. 

I smiled a little, amused to see that his feet were just as bubblegum pink as the rest of him. 

“Sadie?”

Quickly I forced my face back to a solemn frown. “Yes,” I looked back up to his eyes. 

“Help me to my feet?” he asked weakly. 

In an instant I moved to his side, lifting his thin frame to it’s shaking legs. He pressed himself into the counter behind him to keep himself upright. With shaking fingers he unbuttoned his jeans, pushing them down until gravity took over, dropping the denim in a heap. With a weak kick he pushed them off and pulled his socks back on, though I wasn’t sure why.

Even in this dark situation I had to feel a small flicker of grim amusement. Lars stood in the nearly black color speckled room with me, a dirty sopping wet girl half his size at his side. He wore a ripped long sleeve shirt with the equally torn big donut logo t-shirt, pushed to nearly its limit by his expanded stomach. Resting low on his hips were a pair of pale blue boxers, amniotic fluid still dripping down his thighs, heading toward the still damp pair of gyms socks hanging around his ankles. 

My amusement vanished with Lars’s scream.

* * *

He hitched forward, face screwing up in pain. I caught him quickly, one arm curling under his and round to the back of his neck, the other at his opposite hip, trying to push him back to a standing position. Lars’s pained yowl sounded right next to my ear as he pressed his forehead into my shoulder. The indistinct sound turned to a choked sob as what could have only been a contraction wound down. It was short thankfully. That much was enough.

Lars breathed hard, shaking as he held tight to me. “That hurt,” he panted. “Why did that hurt so bad?”

“Without the amniotic fluid for protection the contractions will be sharper, more like that.” I did my best to explain calmly. 

“I can’t do that again,” he shook his head slowly. 

“You should try and lie down again,” I offered, unable to find any words of comfort. 

With a gentle push I leaned him back up against the counter top. New lines creased his face, starting at the inner corners of his eyes and crossing his cheeks downward to the tips of his mouth. These new folds, added to the darkness beginning to gather under his eyes, the wrinkled between his brows and the crows feet slowly fanning out he looked much older than his age. He’d set a new weight on his shoulder. 

“Come on,” I put his arm over my shoulder. “Lie back down. I’ll see if I can find anymore-” My gaze landed on the back door and I swore under my breath. 

“What is it?” Lars asked, worry tearing into his sore voice. 

I pointed to the door to the outdoors. The over soaked towels at the bottom of the frame had slipped loose and water began to spurt into the room, spreading a muddy water puddle across the already filthy tiles. Moving from Lars’s side I grabbed all things from the floor and moved them to the break room table I’d pressed against the counters. 

“Lars,” I grabbed his arm and squeezed lightly, gently trying to bring his attention back from where it had wandered. “Lars lets lie you down on the table. Then I’ll fix this.”

“Use my jeans to soak some stuff up,” he tried to push himself straight “They're not good for much else right now.”

“I will,” I agreed, in no mood to argue with him. Moving his arm over my shoulders I pulled him slowly across the small break room to the long plastic table top. He was tall enough to sit down on it, though swinging his legs up seemed to take a maximum of effort. The table was a fraction of an inch lower than the countertop next to it. I set the tablecloth pillow on the counter and and helped him lie down, doing my best to recreate his back rest. He still laid with his knees up, face a weak impression of a stone mask, twitching at the corners.

With no idea of what to say or how to comfort him I moved to my task. Gathering up Lars’s jeans and the damp washcloths I moved first to the sink. To wring out what water I could of bought the dirty water and amniotic fluid. Cautiously I moved over to inspect the damage at the door. Water was flowing at a slow but steady rate. Silently cursing the lack of  drain in the tile floor I knelt, my own jeans soaking up even more. The floor beneath me was gritty and gross, small rocks jabbing into my skin. I took first the already damp clothes and pressed them tightly into the cracks. There was no use wasting them. Then I took Lars’s jeans and with them managed to dry the surrounding floor and place them as the next line of defence. I grabbed the roll of duct tape and pressed down the remains of the now damp tape. 

Most of the water already in the room flowed to the lower center of the room, making a brown puddle. Dirt, trash, rocks, and sand formed small waving lines where the water had pushed them. It wasn’t great. But it would have to do and for then it was the best I could manage.

I grabbed the broom, unwilling to go back to Lars just then. There was nothing I could do for him, why stand there?

As I swept I heard Lars’s next contraction come and go. 

His strangled shout came through a wad of fabric, most likely the sleeve of his shirt though I didn’t turn to find out. His breathing was heavy, panicked and it only sped up. 

“Lars?” I turned around. “Lars?”

His pink face had faded further, turning to an icey blue. The skin around his eyes became ashen, his fingers slackening their grip. 

“Lars?” I dropped the broom and grabbed his arm. He looked sick. Had he actually eaten anything in the last twenty four hours I would have thought he was going to throw up. “What’s wrong?”

His voice trembled, “K-kinda dizzy, l-little shaky.”

“You’re going into shock,” I whispered, my mind racing. “Um, you need to, need to lower your head, raise your legs.” 

“Why?” He began to shake harder. Tears gathered at the corners of his eyes. “Sadie?” his voice raised in pitch. “Sadie!”

I slowly moved him, resting the back of his head on the table. “I’m right here Lars. I am not going anywhere. But you need to breathe. Slow deep breaths okay?”

“I’m going to die,” he whimpered, breathing going even faster. “Sadie I’m going to die.”

“You are not going to die.” I straightened his legs with firm hands, raising his legs. “You are going to be okay. You are going to see your kid and they are going to be perfect.”

He shook his head, tears leaking from the sides of his eyes. “No. I won’t I’m going to die in here!” his strangled scream tore through his throat. I grabbed his hands and let him squeeze tight. Huis nails dug into my skin, leaving small crescent shaped marks in the pale skin. Tears hit the plastic table, wiping away the dirt and dust left there. 

“Lars,” I said firmly. “Lars. You are not going to  die. That is just the pain talking. You are going to make it through this. You are strong enough f-”

“This isn’t the pain,” he shook his head again, hair falling cross his forehead falling into his eyes. “I’m going to die. I’m going to die because that’s what happened to Steven’s mom. She died giving birth to him.”

I froze, all the blood draining from my limbs, leaving me ice cold. “What are you talking about?”

“When Steven was born his mom, Rose had to give her physical form to give him a body,” he wheezed, trying to push out the last of his air. “I’m going to die.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry it took so long. My hype was gone. But with the new episodes in less than a week, I am all kinds of hyped. Please enjoy the chapter!


	9. Chapter Nine

“When Steven was born his mom, Rose had to give her physical form to give him a body,” he wheezed, trying to push out the last of his air. “I’m going to die.”

“No,” I tried to stay firm, my own voice quivering. “No. You are not going to die. This is different. It has to be. You aren’t a gem.”

“I’m as good as,” his words were nearly lost as he tried to inhale. “I’m dead. I don’t have to do anything a human does.”

I poked him hard in the arm. “You listen to me Laramie,” I growled, finding my voice, fear pushing me back to an increased steadiness. “You are not going to die. And do you know why? You are not going to die because you are a human being. Magic or not, bright pink or not you are a human being and you are too strong and too stubborn to give up. Do you hear me?”

He looked up at me, nodding slowly, his hands still clenched in mine. 

“Good,” I squeezed his hands tighter. “This is different. Rose was a gem giving birth to a human. You are a human being and you are having a gem. This is different. You are going to be just fine.”

“How do you know?” he whispered. 

“Because I know you and you do not give up. You survived an alien planet for half a year. You can survive a tiny little gem and you can handle this disaster. We are going to make it out of here just fine.”

“Okay,” he breathed. Slowly the rapid movements of his chest slowed along with the trembling in his fingers. 

“Okay,” I echoed. “How are you feeling?” I asked, watching the color in his cheeks slowly rise back to normal. 

“Am I really in shock?” he rubbed his head with one hand, the other still determinedly wrapped in mine.

“I’m not sure,” I brushed back his hair instinctively, my fingers meeting the soft pink locks. “If anything I think you going into something close to maternal shock. 

Lars didn’t move as he spoke next. “What’s that?”

“It’s when mothers don’t have enough oxygen going to their tissues. And while I’m still not sure if you need to breathe for now I think it would be best if you tried to keep it up. At the very least it can keep you calm.”

“Got it,” he looked up at me sheepishly. “Can I move the tablecloth from below my feet for now?”

I pried his hand off mine and went to retrieve his pillow. “I think it’s safe.”

“Good,” he wadded it up behind his head again, putting it in place. He propped himself up, placing his feet on the table and spreading his knees. “I don’t think I can keep my legs together like that. It feels like I’m squishing something.”

Glancing down at his enlarged stomach I was alarmed to find the sight different. “When did that happen?”

“What?” Lars tried to peer over his stomach but couldn't’ seem to find the leverage. 

The tight of his stomach had moved from the high and tight half sphere to a low hanging oval shape, the location forcing his thin legs to be wider spread. “Your stomach dropped.”

“Dropped?” 

I nodded. “It happens during pregnancy when the baby is ready to come out. It probably should've happened a couple weeks ago. But sometimes it doesn't happen until birthing begins.”

“I would say water breaking would be a pretty good indicator,” Lars rested his elbows on the table, his head hanging back, chin pointed to the ceiling. 

“But I didn't see it like this until now.”

“When I started breathing faster,” He mused. “It did feel easier than it had before.”

“The baby moved down away from your ribs. If you drank water anymore you’d probably be feeling a lot of pressure on your bladder about now.”

He shrugged with one shoulder. “Perks of being dead? Along with the perks of having a baby who doesn’t need food or drink and is a manifestation of light.”

“What?” 

Lars rested back on the table, arms crossed over his chest and legs down, ankles crossed as well. “The gems. Their bodies are manifestations of light.”

“So how do they have mass? How do they pick things up?”

He shook his head bemused. “Not a clue. Something about concentrated particles. But my kid seems to have mass in a different way. Takes them conscious thought to form a body. The kid is collecting cells from me to form a body. They’ll be a lot like Steven.”

“How did they find out about all this stuff? They don’t seem the type to take ultrasounds,” I leaned against the table, resting my elbows on top. 

“They don't,” he didn't meet my interested gaze. “Most of it is guesswork. But that’s what I think. I don’t think light was the one mashing my spine to bits over the last several months.”

I smiled, laughing along with him. 

His own joy faded and I watched his color drain way as rapidly as a changing neon sign. “Lars, what’s wrong?”

He leaned back, forcing himself to take steady breaths. “Contraction.”

“What can I do?”

He shifted to the best of his ability, giving me room on top of the table. Scrambling atop it I wrapped my arms around him, under his arms and pulling his upper spine closer. He dropped his chin on my shoulder, closer to my back, pressing the point onto my skin, trying his best not to scream again. The muted grunts were almost as bad as the scream, proving it was getting worse. If he wasn’t screaming he was either too tired to muster it or the pain was getting too horrible for him to find sound. 

The stone-like muscles slowly relaxed under my fingers and as they did I shifted. 

“No,” he held onto me. “Please just stay. You said you would stay.”

“Lars,” I felt my gut twisting, guilt biting into me. “You’ve got a lot of this labor left. I need to try and clean up the room, prepare what I can for the kid until you need me here permanently.”

“I need you now,” he whimpered. “I just need something to hold onto.”

Feeling like the biggest jerk I’d ever been I grabbed the blanket from the opposite counter, bringing it to him. “I’m so sorry. Just hold on to this. Do your best to rest. I know you’re already exhausted and you need as much energy as you can muster.”

Lars looked up at me, shining like a lost puppy. “Sadie please.”

“I’m not leaving. One last time, one last moment for preparation,” I promised. 

The knot in my stomach tightened harder and, knowing my time was limited I went to prepare the last of the things we’d need. I abandoned the broom in the corner, knowing there would be no more need for it. Next, I pushed all the tables together, giving us more space, knowing he’d need it. As I approached it Lars didn’t look me in the eyes. I would've thought he was asleep if not for the wrinkled space between his brows. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for the positive feedback! Please leave comments


	10. Chapter Ten

I grabbed two large mixing bowls and set them on the counter, filling them both with water, using half the supply. One was to cool Lars down, something I knew he’d need before the end of it, the second was for the baby. I set a few washcloths and the best towel I could find next to it. The newer fluffy yellow hand towel would have to do in place of a baby blanket. 

As I stared at it I felt another punch in the gut realization. Lars was having a baby, a real baby, in the breakroom of the big donut. 

“Come on Sadie”, I breathed, thinking to myself. “You’ve got to keep this together.”

Finally I used the very last of the duct tape to secure the towels in place. Then that was it, the very last of anything I could think of using, think of needing the bring a baby into the world. 

“Sadie,” Lars moaned. “S’ another one.”

I ran back, climbing onto the table and grabbing his hands. Under any other circumstances I would've seen a scowl on his face. But then and there the only thing I could find was panic and pain. He threw his arms around me as I returned, holding me close as he did his best to force himself though the pain. 

I didn’t pull myself away this time, even as I felt the contraction coming to an end. 

“Sh-shouldn’t you be timing these?” he asked. 

“I will,” I nodded. “But I need to be able to see the clock.”

His nod was slow. “One second,” he muttered. After several deep breaths he shifted himself around, his back to the outer wall to I could see the glow stick lit wall clock. 

“Lars,” I whispered, still hugging him closely. 

“Hmm?” his hum vibrated against my body, a low rumbling sound. 

“I need to know how long these have been going on.”

“How long what’s been going on?”

“Your labor. When did you start feeling these?”

“They’ve been going on and off for days,” he muttered. 

I pushed him back, looking him in the eyes, albeit his tired glazed eyes. “Lars. What time did they start today?”

He shook his head, like he was trying to bat away flies, trying to clear it. “The first one I felt today was just before I came to work.”

“So about eight this morning?” I clarified, glancing to the clock on the wall. It was four twenty-three in the afternoon. 

“I think so, maybe a little before.”

He’d been in labor almost eight hours, his water had broken maybe a half hour ago. 

“And they’ve been getting faster?”

“And stronger,” he winced as the next one began, his shoulders tensed. 

I pulled him back into a hug, glancing up at the wall, timing every second from the beginning to the ned. At its peak almost thirty seconds had passed. He dug his fingers into my back, another hoarse sob escaping his throat. I forced my mind to stay on task and waited until it was over. 

“It lasted about forty-seven seconds,” I announced. 

“That’s all?” he asked, his hope draining. “It felt like ten minutes.”

“I’m so sorry,” I squeezed his arm. “But you are so close Lars. If it started at eight this morning then you’re almost there.”

“I just want this to be over,” his throat closed off, a sob building in his chest. “It hurts so bad.”

I moved my hands to his and squeezed tighter. “I can't even imagine,” I did my best to comfort. “But Lars, I meant what I said before. You are the strongest person I know. You are going to get through this. I know you will.”

His smile was weak. “C-Could you walk me through some other ones you saw? Just to try something to help?”

“Other what?”

“Labors. From when you were at the clinic.”

I thought back, mind whirring. “I saw women walking around, using gravity for them.”

He shook his head, brushing off that idea quickly. “I couldn’t walk. I could hardly get myself up on the table.”

“Last resort,” I tucked that idea away. 

“You could try squatting, either with me behind you sitting down or with your hands above you holding to the back of the chair,” I suggested. “It’s the same concept.”

“With the same problem,” he shook his head. “I couldn’t support myself like that. I’d fall flat of my butt.”

“Okay,” I comforted. “Some not standing or squatting ones. On your hands and knees or just on your knees.”

He didn’t seem too thrilled. “Got any others?”

I looked at the thin plastic excuse for a bed we sat on. “You could try straddling the table, leaning forward against me?” He seems more tempted by that one, something to do without putting pressure on his feet. 

“Any others?”

“I only know so many,” I smiled, squeezing his hands slightly. 

Lars held tight to me, trying to find a more comfortable position. “Is that really all you know?”

“I think I vaguely remember a few others,” I admitted, trying to clear my mind. “But I think the best thing would be for you to find something that’s best for you.”

“Everything hurts,” he groaned. “I can’t find anything better.”

“ _ I'm not surprised _ ,” I thought wryly. He was so close now I doubted he’d find much relief from any of it. The only upside there would be that  _ any _ relief would feel like a massive amount.

Lars’s hands gripped mine, and he bent forward again. “Another one,” he muttered through grit teeth. 

I glanced at the wall, marking the time in my mind. 

“H-How far?” he gasped as he latest came to a close. 

“Just under six minutes,” I said as comforting as I could. 

Lars fell loose against me as the last of the tight pain fell away. “How much longer?” he said his voice dangerously near a sob. 

“You’re so close,” I held him tight, pulling his bony body as far into my arms as I could get it. “So close.”

“How much longer?”

“I remember the women saying they didn’t come in until the contractions were eight minutes apart. Then most said they felt like they needed to push at three minutes.”

“How much longer?” he repeated. “Fifteen minutes? Half hour? An hour?”

“Everyone progresses differently,” I brushed his upper back lightly. “It could be anywhere from ten minutes to four or five hours.”

Lars did break into sobs  that time, his thin shoulders shaking. “I can’t,” he cried, weakly shaking his head. “I can’t any more. I want to go home.”

“You can do this Lars,”I promised. “You can.”

This had to be the transition part of labor, where the body really prepared for the baby. He needed to spread out. He couldn't stay curled up and crying in my arms or he really wouldn’t have the baby for five hours. 

“Let's try those positions,” I offered gently, “keep things moving.”

His nod was so tiny that had his forehead not been pressed into my shoulder I wouldn’t have known it had happened. 

“Which one do you want to try?” I asked, my voice still low. 

“The, the one, straddle the table?” he stuttered, trying to find the rooms. 

“Okay,” I slow removed him from my arms, forcing him into a sitting position. His face was puffy, eyes as pink as his skin around the edges. Tear stains made small white tracks across his already pale cheeks. I wiped his cheeks with my thumbs.

“You are doing so well. I’ve seen women with all the drugs known to man still freaking out worse than you are.”

“Really?” he sniffed. 

I nodded, speaking with only slight exaggeration. “I remember one lady, just after she got an epidural, the shot that numbs you from shoulders to toes, screaming about how she could still feel it. I know for a fact her legs didn’t even twitch until twenty four hours after she had the baby.”

His face has glazed a moment. “There’s medicine that does that?” he asked, voice thick with longing.

My gut twisted with guilt. “It’s really expensive.”

“But it works?”

I nodded, regretting saying anything. To distract myself I slowly began to untangle his limbs. “Yeah. It’s supposed to really work, this massive shot into your back, hits the nervous system.”

“No chance that’s in our first aid kit?” Lars let me move him, setting his legs on either side of the table. His thighs were long enough that his knees were only an inch away from bending over the edge. In any case his feet had fallen out of sight to the dark floor. 

I shook my head, scooting closer to him. “We’ve got tylenol and aspirin, that kind of things. But they're old, I doubt they even work.”

His moan reached all the way down through the table, shaking the weak metal legs. “I have to have something. I feel like I’m going to d-”

“You are not going to die,” I interrupted, voice firm. 

He looked up at me, bottom lip stuck out, trying to tease. “Feels like it,” his joke fell flat. 

“I’ll do everything I can,” I lifted his arms, crossing them around my neck. 

“I know,” he whispered, dropping his head to my opposite shoulder. We waited in minutes, spanning the silence until his next contraction. I traced slow patterns his upper back. We slowly shifted closer until he was practically in my lap. His breathing was steady as he forced himself to stay at a soft rhythm, a rhythm he mimicked from me. Once I noticed that I forced myself to keep myself steady. I kept my eyes trained at the clock, fear gripping me as six minutes came and past. Then it was seven.... Eight… nine. 

At ten minutes Lars pulled himself closer, his belly button pressing into my hip. As much as it hurt me to see him in pain I couldn’t help the wave of relief that hit. Why had the time lengthened? Did this pregnancy not follow normal rules? So far it had been so consistent. Why was it changing now?

Lars’s gasp brought me back to reality.” His arm moved from my shoulder, fingers starfishing across his stomach. 

“What is it?” I asked. “Lars what’s wrong?”

“I felt it,” he breathed, eyes wide. “Everything moved.”

“Down?” I asked hopefully.”

“I-I don’t know. It just moved.”

“Are they still moving?”

He nodded. 

Without permission I reached my hand out, resting my palm beside his. Lars made no effort to push me away, still lost in shock. Below the thin layer of taut skin I felt it, a strong kick or a punch. It was so strong I pulled back, looking down at his tight shirt. Below the fabric and skin I watched, actually aw the visible hit shake his stomach like ripples in a pond. 

“Does that hurt?” I whispered, looking into Lars’s face. 

“I don’t know,” he shifted. “Kind of?”

“One to ten?”

“Like a two maybe,” he rubbed his hips. “Imagine someone flicking your stomach for months, now imagine it comes from the inside,” another hit poked up through the skin. “And that it never stops.”

I placed my warm palms on either side on his swollen stomach. “That sounds awful.”

“It only really hurts when they come in contact with my spine or ribs. They like to stick their toes between them.” his smile was soft, almost wistful. 

My mind buzzed with questions and finally I decided to start with the most innocent one. “Lars, you didn’t seem really surprised when you took off your illusion. Did you always keep it on?”

He rested against my, our shoulders touching. “No. Just when I came to work or was around other people.”

“But you had it around the other gems?”

“They all seemed so… normal around it, around me.” His bemused smile spread and he dropped his head to my shoulder. “Once me and the off colors got settled into our new place it was just part of life. Steven’s been the best about it,” he chuckled. “He comes and asks me about it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for the positive feedback! Please leave comments


	11. Chapter Eleven

I could already see it. Lars would be sitting, listening to music. Steven snuck up behind him, a grin spreading across his small innocent face. The dimple in his cheek would deepen and he’d pop up behind Lars. 

“Steven!” Lars took off his headphone, the set falling to his shoulders like an ineffective scarf. “You scared me half to death.”

“I just bring you back to life again,” Steve grinned. “I’ve got to now. There’s two of you.”

Lars rolled his eyes. “There are not two of me Steven. There's me and it.”

“Them,” Steven corrected. “Don’t call them an it. They’re a person too.”

Lars’s sigh was dramatic, but it did its job of hiding his amusement. “Fine. Them. What do you want?”

“I just came to check on you,” Steven looked up at him innocently. “And I wanted to know how the baby is.”

“The baby is fine,” Lars moved to put the headphones back on. 

“Wait!” Steven held up both arms. “You should put the headphones on your stomach”

Lars blinked, incredulous. “What?”

“Put the headphones on your stomach. They have ears. They can learn to like your music.”

I looked at him skeptically. “Are you sure?”

“I’ve seen it in movies and stuff,” he knelt by Lars, crossing his arms under his chin. “I mean it’s worth a try isn’t it?”

Lars raised an eyebrow at him, unconvinced. “It’ll look stupid. Or I could break my headphones.”

“You won’t. Come on,” he bounced a little, his voice altered by the movement. 

“Fine, fine, fine” Lars took the headphones from around his neck, making sure the cord wasn’t tangled before trying to shift the strap to span across his already rising stomach. 

Steven pressed play on the player. The faint muffled sound of the drums came from the small speakers. 

Lars waited unsure, a blushing rising in his cheek. “Steven, I’m telling you, this is-” his voice trailed away. 

“Lars?” Steven moved up further on his arms, hand on the seat. “Are you okay?”

“It’s moving.”

“Really?” Steven asked awe in his voice and stars in his eyes. “Can I feel?”

“I guess, I guess you could if you want to.”

Steven jumped up onto the couch cushion next to him and placed both palms on Lars’s gut. His gaze turned serious, sticking his tongue out in concentration. Lars glanced up at him, momentarily distracted from the wriggling in his gut by his amusement. The little creature wormed itself into a more comfortable position. Lars stiffened, holding his breath without realizing it. 

“That,” Steven began, his voice hardly more than a whisper, “was,” he sat up straighter, "Awesome! Do you get to feel that all the time?”

“Y-Yeah sometimes,” Lars said, still lost. “But never because of anything that’s going on around me. I guess I never thought that they could hear or feel anything real while they’re in there.”

Steven’s grin was wide, eyes closed by his smile. “Do you think they’ll like anything else that you like? Cause they like your music. What if they share your favorite food or something?”

Lars shook his head slowly. “No, no, they couldn’t. I mean, they’re a gem.” 

“So?” Steven moved his hands. “I’m human too and my mom was a gem. People say I’m a lot like her.”

“Like how?”

“Well for one we both love my dad’s music,” Steven grinned. “So that’s a start.”

Lars rested a hand on his stomach where the tiny creature was still moving, listening to the end of the song. “Yeah. I guess that is a start.”

 

“He sounds sweet,” I squeezed his hand lightly. 

“It got kind of annoying after awhile,” Lars chuckled, easing himself into a more comfortable position. “But other times I guess it was just nice to see a familiar face who knew what was going on.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, the off colors don’t know anything about the earth. Paddy stays at my side for two hours after I come back from work, scared I will leave her again.”

I looked back at the clock quickly. “What do you mean? Didn’t you explain it to her?”

“They don’t know how the earth works,” he repeated. “I just have to be patient.” Lars winced moving his thighs back and forth on the table.

“Is it another contraction?” I moved my warm hands to his spine. 

He pressed his lips tight together. “I don’t think so. This is different.”

“How much does it hurt?”

“No worse than it did before,” he pulled himself closer, doing his best to keep his legs spread wide. “Just pressure.”

I moved my other hand up to his neck, “What can I do?”

He shook his head, face scrunched, pain mounting. “Saide,” his voice caught. “Ow, ow!” his hand caught the hem of my shirt, his pinky twisted in the thin fabric. “Something is wrong. Something is wrong!”

“Lars,” I kept my voice steady. “Lars nothing is wrong. You’re just getting close.”

“No,” he shook his head. “No this isn’t a contraction. This isn’t it hurts different.” he wasn’t screaming, wasn’t even grunting. His breath was caught, shallow and forced, like it was squeezing through a metal grate. “Sadie!” his fingernails dug into the skin of my back. 

“Breathe,” I tried to advise. “Could you try and talk through it?”

“T-Talk about what?” 

“How does it feel?”

“Just everything pushing down,” he groaned. 

My insides dropped. “I think you need to start pushing.”

“No. Not like that,” he pushed himself off of me, leaning back on his arms, elbows shaking. “It’s not pushing out just down.”

“Where does it hurt?” I asked, getting my frantically beating heart back under control. 

With a trembling hand, he shifted his finger from the dusty table to the base of his spine, curling around his side to a place just under his belly button. “It's straining the muscles, it feels like it’s ripping them, ripping me apart.” His sob escaped, tears welling up at the corners of his eyes. 

“Y-you, you’re not screaming,” I tried to comfort him. “That’s an upside.”

“It’s not like that,” he leaned backward, like the ligaments in his spine were screwing themselves tighter. Lars tilting his head back, his moan was agony, almost as hard as it was to hear as it must have been to experience. “S-Sadie I need to move, I have to move.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think a couple of the chapters got messed up but they're all fixed now. I can honestly say that the little scene with steven is my favorite part of the whole story   
> Please leave reviews!


	12. Chapter Twelve

He leaned backward, like the ligaments in his spine were screwing themselves tighter. Lars tilting his head back, his moan was agony, almost as hard as it was to hear as it must have been to experience. “S-Sadie I need to move, I have to move.”

“Are you sure?”

He pushed one arm against the table, trying to get himself up, off the table. “I can’t just sit here. I can’t,” with a grunt he managed to get one leg up, bent, his fingers gripped around his knee. “Sadie please.”

I leaped off the table quickly and moved to his side. In the span of the few seconds, it took to move he was already lost, a contraction pressing down on his already weak frame. 

His mouth opened, not even a squeak of pain managing to escape. 

“Lars,” I spoke firmly. “Lars where on the scale is y-”

“Ten!” he rasped. “Eleven, twelve! I’m falling to pieces. I can’t. I can’t.”

“We’re going to walk around for a little. Okay? You are so close, so unbelievably close. Just walk around for a few minutes. Then you’ll have your kid. Okay? Okay?” I pushed his hair back, trying my best to keep my voice from frantic panicking. 

Then he said the two words I dreaded most from him. “I’m tired.” Lars leaned against me, forehead on mine. His breath was heavy, his skin covered in sweat. “Sadie I’m so tired.”

“I know,” my voice cracked. “I know you are. All I ask for is a little longer. You just need a little bit it longer.”

“I can’t.”

I grabbed his arms and pulled him closer. He slid slowly off the table, landing on paper thin legs. “You lean on me. You lean on me as much as you need. I don’t care If I have to drag you but you are going to stay upright until you can’t feel your legs. Do you hear me?”

Tears trickled down his cheeks, pooling under his chin. But still, he nodded, doing as he was told. 

“Okay,” he agreed, leaning against me. He couldn’t weigh any more than one hundred twenty pounds. He was too light, feathery light. All the pressure he could muster forced itself down on me. I was his crutch, emotionally and physically at that moment. 

“Do you think you can manage walking?” I asked softly. 

“No,” Lars admitted. “But I’m going to try anyway,” his chuckle was low and deep, straining and pained. “You won’t let me give up.”

“You’ve got that right.”

I began a slow arc across the room, my gut clenched. I was sure I was pushing him too hard. If I continued to push him like this I would kill him, again. In the few hours since the ran had begun had felt like a decade. I saw the years in Lars’s face. He was tiny, fragile, every muscle and fiber of his being pushed so hard to overcome what we both knew should not be possible. 

Lars was not going to die. I was not going to let him die. 

I felt the muscles in his body tense, another contraction already piling atop the other. “Stop,” he whispered. “Stop.”

“Lars you know that you can’t stop. Not now.”

“Just for the contraction please,” he begged. “I can’t think when they-” he shifted from foot to foot slowly. “It’s getting worse.”

“For the contraction,” I agreed. 

His arms circled around my neck. He paused, everything paused. His breathing slowed to a stop, all movement ceased. He stayed where he was, eyes closing. 

“Come on Lars,” I egged him on again. “You can’t give up now.”

We began to walk again. “Let’s go,” he said. 

“Has anything changed?” I asked. 

He took a tentative step back from me. His stomach had dropped so low that his gait had become more than bow legged. Lars crouched slowly, moving to a squat. He gestured me to come down, support him as he swayed, doing his best to bounce a little. 

“What are you doing?” I asked, kneeling next to him. “I thought you were against crouching down.”

“I can’t think anymore,” he admitted. “My brain is on pause. I’m following instincts now.”

I smiled as sweetly as I could, the faintest bit of joy raising my spirits. “That’s good. Just trust your body knows what it’s doing.”

“That’s the thing,” he grunted, straightening as best he could, “I don’t think it does know what it’s doing. Like you said this is not something I was ever built for.”

He seemed to give up on the squat, sweat pouring down the sides of his face. As moved to an upright position I followed him, hovering close by, ready to support him. 

“Lars,” I tried, insides twisting. “I just said that out of concern. I know you can.”

His smile was so exhausted it was far more of a grimace. “I don’t know Sadie. I just don’t know. I feel like being ripped in half.”

“Would it be of any comfort to tell you that it’s to be expected?”

His steps faltered and he toppled back into the counter, hands gripping on the edge, knuckles turning bright white. I lunged forward and grabbed his arm. “N-not really,” he panted. 

“Do you want to try walking again?”

“S’ better than nothing,” he wheezed. 

I wrapped his arm around my shoulders and headed off in a slow circle of the room. I let him set the pace, pausing for every contraction. His screams of pain had abated even as his walk became more widespread. He seems to be halfway through a crouch with every step he took. His eyes had closed, all concentration frozen on this one impossible act. 

After what felt like years of walking, having walked the length of space to homeworld and back Lars rasped out a request. His voice was so small I wouldn’t have heard it if I hadn’t been listening for it. 

“S-Sadie?”

“Yes, Lars?” I squeezed the arm he had rested on my shoulders. 

“I have to sit down.”

I believed him. If my legs had become tired over our time marching I couldn’t imagine how he felt. His knees trembled so badly they could have registered on the richter scale. Pulled one of the chairs over I had him sit backwards on it, legs spread wide and arms resting on the back of the chair. 

His shoulders rose and fell with his forced inhales and exhales. Lars squirmed in his chair, knowing he could never find a comfortable position like this. “How long are th-the,” he began. 

“They’re about a minute long and a minute apart,” I rubbed his arm lightly. “This is good. This is really good. You should be able to start pushing very soon.”

He nodded, his forehead still rested on his arms. “Sadie?” his voice was quiet, confused. “I’m cold.”

“I’ll go get a blanket.”

He tensed and I knew he was terrified of my leaving his side. It was touching and at the same time terrifying that he depended so much on me. 

I grabbed the large comforter I’d found and rested it over his thin frame. The pressure and warmth of the large dusty blanket seems to provide some comfort. 

“Better?” I asked, crouching behind the chair. My face was inches from his, though I couldn’t sit, still buried in his arms.

Lars nodded again. His hair hung over his arm, dry of the dirty water and damp only from perspiration. Feet flat on the ground he wiggled his hips, begging the child to come forth sooner. 

The weight in my own stomach had squeezed to a black hole, pulling out hope. I felt so useless, helpless. There was nothing I could do to lighten the pain his was in. Lars was hardly functional, so lost in the pain he didn’t notice the squeaks and moans. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, it took so long. Please enjoy and I always love to hear your feedback and ideas :)


	13. Chapter Thirteen

“I wonder how this blanket even got here,” I pulled the warm corner away from the damp floor and onto his knee. Rubbing my fingers back and forth gently, trying to calm him further I did my best to keep my voice calm. 

“You don’t know?” Lar’s voice was hoarse. 

I shook my head. “I didn’t even know it was here until I found it in the corner with that lamp.

He chuckled. “It was just after I started working here.” his trembling fingers reached his side and began to rub in gentle circles. “I was maybe fifteen? I got into a fight.”

 

I saw it all. Lars had told me a little about the fights his parents and he had. Once he’d come back from homeworld I knew he’d fought again, keeping a distance from them. But this one, I was sure it like the hundred others. But now, instead of hiding in his room Lars had keys to somewhere else, somewhere he could hide. 

I saw the heavy summer air, could feel the heat along my own shoulders like I had been there. Flickering street lights marked his path, creating shadows at his side. Lars had to raid his camping gear from a scouting tip from elementary. The blanket was too big for his pencil like frame, making him look bigger. It was a proper quilt. He couldn't remember if this was the second hand one or if some long distant family member had sent it at Christmas. In any case, it smelled of dust and dirt, holes in the corners caught on his fingernails. The grim brushed his wet cheeks where angry tears had escaped him. 

Lars wiped his nose on his too long sleeve, anger pumping his legs, driving him onward. The keys in his pocket dug into his thighs. 

He turned corners at random, hiding from whoever or whatever came after him. Though he doubted anyone had decided to do anything. His parents didn’t want him. If they did why would they have yelled at him like that. Why did they always have to yell? He wasn’t perfect, so what?

His wandering finally brought him to the door for which he knew he had been heading since he’d dropped out of his bedroom window. 

 

“How long were you here?” I asked quietly. 

“I stayed here three nights before I went home.”

“Three nights?” I looked around the cramped uncomfortable break room made all the more sinister by the dim lighting. “Really?”

His nod came again, slow and steady. “They never knew where I’d gone. It became a habit after a while. I never stayed as long as I had the first time though.”

I rubbed the blanket between my fingers.   
“How long had it been since the last time?”

“Only about a week before I left. By the time I came back, I’d forgotten about this blanket. I wonder,” he hissed through his teeth, legs spread wide, spine bending backward. “I-I wonder if they ever noticed this blanket was gone.”

I held onto his arm, rubbing his knee and doing everything I could to help him ride out the pain. 

Lars let out a final strangled scream, his back curving over, his hands on either thigh, fingers white. “S-Sadie!” he shrieked. With another grunt, he leaned further forward. “Sadie I have to, I feel like-” he huffed.

“Do you have to push?”

Again he nodded. 

I hesitated for only a moment, unsure where to go. “Do you want to keep sitting down?” I asked. “You’ll have to lean back and-”

“I-I don’t know. I’ll need some kind of support but you have to be down,” he paused, embarrassment turning him cherry red, or maybe it was just the strain, “down there to catch the kid.”

“I can be your support for the first while,” I comforted. “Do you want to keep sitting down?”

“There’s nothing else I can do,” he panted, chest heaving. “I can’t support myself, my legs won’t work.”

“Let’s just let you-” I stopped, the sound of water reaching my ears again. I turned my attention to the door. From the thin cracks, I could see the faint shimmerings of moonlight which must finally mean the clouds had cleared themselves away. But this only meant that the water was making its final travels. In that, the flow became heavier. And the water had burst the last of the tape, a cascade tumbling over the floor. 

Lars looked up with hazy eyes, the icy cold water running fast to his bare ankles. 

Quickly I snatched up the edge of the blanket. “You should lie down,” I decided slowly. “I can get the rest of the dry blankets and tablecloths, make you some kind of support.”

He hardly heard me. “Okay,” he muttered, watching dirty liquid wash over and destroy his clean socks. 

“Come on,” I put an arm over my shoulder and slowly lifted himself from his chair. 

He followed the movement with a weak groan, his free hand clutched at his low hanging belly. For all his whimpers and for as long as it took the five feet between the chair and the table felt like a mile. By the time I’d pushed him onto the thin plastic cover the water had reached our knees. Still rushing in and with nowhere to go the temperature of the room dropped nearly ten degrees. I shivered, pushing aside my discomfort. 

Lars leaned back, trying to support his upper body with his arms. He failed, falling as gently as he could manage, resting his head on the cold marble surface of the counter. 

Grabbing the rest of the blankets I tried to make him the most comfortable bed I could manage. It was hardly anything and I wasn’t sure if it would do anything but hurt him more but with adrenaline kicking into my system it was the best I could do. 

All too quickly another contraction was upon him. Lars didn’t even have to say anything. His shaking hand reached for mine and I knelt next to him on the table, squeezing his fingers tight. 

“What do I do?” Lars managed through grit teeth. He could hardly move, his distended stomach stone hard to the touch. The rest of his body seemed to be made of jelly however as he couldn’t even lift his head. 

“Just listen to your body,” I said softly. I had no idea what to say. I’d hardly ever been in the room for this part and the ones I had been a part of had knocked me out stone cold. I only had the faintest hope that this one wouldn't be the same. 

“I’m tired,” Lars said again, his head resting on my knee. “I just want sleep.”

“You’re so close,” I promised again. 

Lars became even more limp on the table, looking ready to pass out. 

“Lars?”

“Hmm?” he moaned. 

“You have to stay awake. Just a little longer.”

“No,” he mumbled. “Just let me sleep. Five minutes. Please.”

When had I become so weak to his requests? Moving closer I got myself situated on top of the table, resting his head in my lap. “Okay, sleep while you can.”

He crumpled under the weight of gravity, shifting to his side and practically passing out. I knew it wouldn’t last long, leave him maybe a few minutes of rest but he needed it. He was falling so fast. Then again I hadn't been lying. He really was so close to delivering. His stomach was so low now his legs had spread into a v even in his sleep. Not enough time had past when Lars began to mumble, a low whine coming from the back of his throat. Still half asleep he shifted onto his back, lifting his knees. I held onto his hand, watching him, not wanting to bring him from his half-awake state. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't realize it'd been over a month. So sorry. Life got crazy for a while there.


	14. Chapter Fourteen

The whine turned suddenly to a grunt and Lars lifted his head from my lap. 

“Lars?” I spoke quietly. 

He shook his head, teeth grit. His entire body position was stiff as stone, all energy directed downward. His forehead moved downward, chin to his chest. He was pushing, whether or not he was acknowledging it he was pushing. 

Time for action. 

I moved further down his side, dreading the moment I knew had to come. “Lars,” I placed a hand on his knee. “Lars listen to me.”

He grunted again, trying to ignore my voice. 

“Lars listen. We’ve got to get your pants off.”

His shoulders dropped and he laid back, head resting on the counter once more. “D-doesn't that usually require a date first?”

I turned as pink as him. “Lars this isn’t funny.”

“I know,” he tried his best to sit up, unable to find either the leverage or the energy. With a colossal grunt, he got himself up only to have to lie back down again. “I bequeath this job to you. I forfeit on account of the skull resting between my hips.”

I managed a weak smile and tugged at the filthy elastic band of his boxers. If he was joking he couldn’t be too far gone. And the baby was so close, so far down that he couldn't move himself. As unimaginably painful as I guessed that was it had to be good. 

The heat rippled in my face as I tugged off the boxers, placing them in the sink, carrying them with the very tips of my index finger and thumb. 

Lars chuckled low in his chest, trying to set his legs wider. “Come on Saide. The whole evening of this and my underwear is what has you cringing?”

I averted my gaze to the floor, color rising more quickly in my cheeks, going to the tips of my ears. “Babies I can do. But I can’t do-”

“Someone will have to catch it,” Lars pointed out. His tone had gone far gruffer and he began to huff. “I can’t exactly do that from back here,” he growled his last few words. “Sadie,” he managed. “Help.”

I hurried back to his side, washing through the ever-growing flood of water. I grabbed his hand and squeezed as Lars struggled through the last of his contraction. 

“I don’t know what I’m doing,” he managed. “What am I doing?”

With a long breath, I pushed his hair back from his sweaty forehead and smiled a little at him. “Okay. Since I doubt you'll be moving again we’ll make the best out of this position.”

He nodded, his flushed face draining back to white. 

“You need to hold onto your knees. It’ll pull your legs wider, give your hands something to do while I go check progress.”

He gave me one curt nod. “Anything else?”

“Keep your head down, try and push with your body, not with your head. If your face starts to feel like it’s swelling then you’re doing it wrong. Concentrate on pushing down. You’ve got a good rhythm going but if you need to I’ll count you out.”

“G-Got it,” he bit his lip, lifting his head again. He struggling to bring his knees to his white-knuckled hands. 

To give myself another excuse I helped him into it. Honestly, the position looked perfect. His screams had stopped. I could almost see the concentration in his eyes. At least for the moment, he seemed to have put his exhaustion aside. 

Finally, I found nothing else to do and moved to kneel below him. I saw nothing out of the ordinary, not to say I knew what to ordinary should have been in the first place. 

For what felt like another hundred years I spewed meaningless encouragement, ignored Lars’ growing frustration and pain and kept my eye on the place between Lars’ thighs. My embarrassment quickly vanished, replaced with despair as minute after minute passed with seemingly no progression. 

Lars dropped his position, breathing hard. “It’s not working,” he groaned. “It won’t fit. It’s not moving.”

This wasn’t entirely untrue. To the naked eye there seemed no further difference. His low stomach hadn’t shifted an inch. 

“You’re getting there,” I promised. “I mean it. I can see-”

“Nothing!” Lars shrieked. The contraction was building but he made no move to begin pushing again. “Nothing is happening. I’m stuck, it’s stuck and I can’t,” his breath hitched. “I can't.” 

“You can,” I begged. “Only a few more then you’ll have your baby.”

“Isn’t there anything else to do?” he moaned.

“You could try shifting positions,” I offered weakly. 

“To what?”

I moved closer, lifting him from the table. “Put your arms around my neck,” I ordered. 

He followed bleakly, hope draining away with his determination. 

“Come on,” I hugged him lightly. “You really are so close. Just a few more pushes.”

He shook his head, resting his head on my shoulder, shifting to his knees. His stomach pressed against mine I felt the movement, the faint kicks like the child within him was just as tired as the boy before me. 

I had to find a way to bring back his motivation. “Lars?” I said, my voice softer than it had been in hours. 

“Hmm?”

“Do you think it’s a girl or a boy?” I asked. 

That actually had him pause. “I don’t know,” he whispered, resting his head on its side so I could hear his voice. “All the gems are girls expect Steven. But all the gender seems to come from the human parent. So I think it’s a boy.”

“I think it’s a girl,” I argued lightly. “Like you said... all the gems are girls.”

“It would be a girl,” he chuckled darkly, “just to spite me. I don’t have enough girls in my life. No. it’s got to be a boy.”

I smiled, gently rubbing his side. “Sure. Your little boy.”

His groan came again and he leaned forward. I struggled to keep him upright, holding him around the chest, his stomach in my way. 

“You’ve got to keep pushing,” I encouraged. “You’ve got to, for your son.”

Lars loosed a terrible half scream, nearly folding himself in half. “It moved,” he breathed when he could, still pushing through the last seconds of his contraction. He looked like he was doing the splits with how wide set his legs were. With another guttural moan, he gave it everything he had and pushed down hard. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, sorry. I suck at updating. Life exploded, in a good way. Happy summer! Here's some more disaster flick stuff


	15. Chapter Fifteen

The next sound he made was trapped somewhere between a scream and an uncomfortable whimper. “Saide,” he beat lightly on my arm. “Sadie it hurts.”

“Where?” I asked, my voice tiny. 

He shimmied his hips the couple of centimeters he could manage. His voice had been caught. Between his legs, I saw something that couldn’t shouldn't have been. 

“Lars lie back, “ I yelped. 

With difficulty I pushed him back to the table, his lower spine bent over the counter behind him. He gasped with pain at the sudden shifting. But before it vanished back into the pale pink skin I saw a few traces of wispy pink locks. 

“Lars!” I squeaked, reaching for his hand. “Lars I saw a head. It’s pink, your baby is pink!”

I looked at him, saw his sweat-sheened face. His lids were half open, his half-mouthed smile was so forlorn it shook me. Even the joy, the shock couldn’t move him. If he didn’t get this kid out soon he was going to pass out despite the pain. And if that happened I didn’t know what would happen. 

“One more push,” I held onto him. “Just one more big one okay?”

He shook his head a fraction of an inch to each side. “I can’t. I’m so tired.”

“You can,” I squeezed him tight. “Just one more big push. Then you can sleep. You can see your baby.”

The next contraction began slow and steady, forcing him to move. Lars’ fingers turned white and halfheartedly he began to push. 

“Harder,” I begged. 

“I can’t,” Lars sank lower, the edge of the counter. 

“One more then you’re all done.” 

He grits his teeth and pushed, a final burst of energy, his last-ditch effort. It was just enough. The top of the tiny pink head pushed through. It was crumpled, minuscule, hardly the size of a lemon, eyes squeezed tight and nose mashed to the side. But it was alive, mucus in its lungs and amniotic fluid over its skin but alive all the same. 

“One more?” Lars said, eyes closed and breathing unsteady. 

“Hold on,” I rubbed his knee, my fingers warming. “The head’s out.”

“Wh-what?” he tried to straighten, groaning and freezing in place. 

“Don’t move,” I carefully placed my hands on the baby’s head. My mind raced as I felt the warmth of the skin. This was really happening. It was really happening. My brain raced through the list of things to do. First, my fingers moved down to the neck. While I had no idea if there would even be an umbilical cord on the baby but still I checked. There was nothing there but the faint line of the child’s shoulders. 

Slowly the baby inched from Lar’s skin, the faint glowing line that appeared in his hair around the shoulders. 

Lars’ breath hitched. “S-Sadie. I still feel like I need to push.”

I had no idea how weird it must have felt. At the very least he didn’t seem to be in too much pain. Or maybe he was too far gone in exhaustion. 

“One more push,” I said. “Gentle. Okay?”

He nodded, did as he was told. 

The tiny body slid into my arms. I had no time to think, no time to register the emotion welling up or even glance at the parent. Quickly I turned them over, taking out the mucus plug. The tiny cries were almost drowned by the rising water. Wonder filled my soul. Moving faster I grabbed the towel from the counter, wading through the water to the sink. 

The tiny heartbreakingly innocent cries reached my ears as I set them in the now cold bowl of water, quickly washing them off. Once clean I took the cleaner new yellow towel and wrapped them tightly. 

A faint whisper reached over the sounds of water and I glanced over. Icey water washed around my knees, getting only higher. 

“Sadie?” Lars said again. I had no idea how long he’d been speaking, how long he’d been calling to me. As weak as he was his spine had become rod straight, his glazed eyes searching. “Saide. How’s my son?”

“I don’t know about your son,” I climbed onto the counter next to him, moving behind him in a ditch attempt to keep him upright. “I think your daughter is perfect.”

“Daughter?” he turned as much as he could manage. Reaching his empty arms out. 

“Lars you have to be careful. You’re exhausted. You can hardly hold yourself upright.”

“Sadie,” his voice was so quiet I wouldn’t have heard it had I not been listening for it. “Let me see my baby girl.”

Making sure I was steady behind him I placed the baby in his arms, holding him just as surely. 

Eyes on his face, I watched as my friend of many years let his exhausted sweat-drenched, filthy face melt into the gentlest and most honest smile I’d ever seen. 

“H-Hi,” he whispered to the crying bundle in his arms. “Hello sweetheart.” he brushed one gross finger along her still damp cheek. “It’s nice to finally see you.” Lars pressed his lips against her forehead, gripping her against his chest like a lifeline. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it's so so short but it was just too cute to post more. I'll get the next one out in like a day, I swear.


	16. Chapter 16

“Lars you have to rest,” I urged. 

His shoulders stiffened and he winced. “Saide it feels like another-” he leaned back instinctively. “What’s going on?”

“That’s got to be the afterbirth,” I crawled back to the edge of the table.

“The what?” Lars tried to move. 

I put my hand on his leg again. “Just one push okay? Nice and gentle.”

He followed instruction, pushing out a disgusting mass of what looked like a pale gel. It was like a clear slime colored bag. With a faint squelch it fell onto the table. Lars grimaced, moving back from the mess. I knew I should check it but I had no desire to get near the thing. 

The baby continued to wiggle and cry, it’s tiny voice hardly making a noise. 

“J-Just one last thing,” he pulled her away from him and tugged down the edge of her towel. 

I had no idea what he was looking for until we reached the glittering rosy diamond shape where her belly button should have been. So there had been no umbilical cord. 

“What kind of gem is that?” I asked, forgetting my hesitation for the moment.

Lars hesitated. “P-Pink diamond. A shard of pink diamond.” Lars looked into the still fussing face of the miniscule squished child, brows furrowing. “I am in so much trouble.”

I gripped his arm, looking around at the floor. “I don’t think that’s the only problem,” I whispered. “Look.”

Lars’ hazy gaze shifted to the ground around us and he saw the encroaching problem. Filthy water washed around the legs of the table, shifting it ever so slightly back and forth. 

“Grab my shorts,” Lars forced himself into a higher sitting position, one arm still held tight around the tiny gem. I moved up to the counter and grabbed Lars’ undershorts, returning with them. Fear had so quickly retaken my mind that I hadn’t thought about the grossness. 

We watched the water while Lars struggled to pull his pants back on one handed. Adrenaline, mixed with the fact he was no longer in much pain seemed to be driving him. 

One hand gripped tight around his upper arm I helped him onto the counter. Just as his foot left the plastic surface it topped sideways into the dirty flow, dumping the two dry tablecloths. 

“What do we do?” Lars rasped. Trying to go to anything above a whisper seemed to tear through his throat. 

“I-I,” I swallowed hard and looked around the room. The counter next to the sink was raised a few extra inches. “There,” I pointed. “We get to the highest point that we can. The water is dirtier than before that means it’s the last of the topsoil coming through, the water should die down soon.”

“You’re sure?” Lars asked. 

I had to nod, he looked so uncertain, so unimaginably tired there was nothing I could bear to give him but good news. 

He moved to his knees, heaving himself up to move to the other counter. The half-hearted whimper of sound escaped from him, almost sounding like the baby. He got only a foot or so until the child, pressed against his chest began to fuss. 

With a few breathy cries, she managed to find her volume. Lars stopped dead, dropping back into a sitting position. He cradled her with gentle hands, hushing her gently. “It’s okay,” he whispered, his face inches from hers. Lars curled up around her, his spine bending over, long arms keeping the wrappings around her. 

The expression on his face caught me off guard for the moment. The worry pressed lines into his otherwise flawless face, gentle care and an almost fierce protection resembled that of a million other mothers.

Then his face melted. His arms still held tight to the figure there but his face registered nothing but a renewed pain. 

“Lars?” I moved closer to him, grabbing his arm. “Lars, what’s wrong?”

“I, I don’t know,” his brows met. “It feels like another contraction but that, that can’t be possible.” a growl built low in his throat. 

In his arms the baby let out a weak cry, responding to the fear in her parent. 

“Lie back,” I said.

“I can’t,” he held onto the baby. “I can’t hold on.”

I moved closer to him, holding onto his arm. “Give her to me. Try and relax. Please, Lars, you need to relax.”

“Saide I can’t take any more of this,” he still didn’t move, face scrunched in pain. “I’m so, so tired.”

“Lie down,” I squeezed his arm gently. 

Lars moved in front of me, leaning back against me. His pale face nestled in the crook of my neck, forehead pressed to my skin. His chest heaved, moving the baby there. Every few moments he’d tense, the tiny diamond he held starting to stick out her small bottom lip every time. As soon as his shoulders dropped I’d watch with fascination. 

The tiny baby responded to his emotions, relaxing as he did face screwing up to cry with every pain. 

“I thought this was supposed to be over,” Lars cried. “I thought it was done. I have her,” his voice dropped and he held her closer. The tiny pink cheek rested on his damp shoulder, sobbing louder. “Why hasn’t the pain ended?”

I bit my cheek, gnawing on the indent I had already made. “I, I think the afterbirth might've ripped. Some of it might still be inside.”

He moaned, bending over. “C-Can’t I just push it out?”

Shaking my head slowly I placed a hand on his arm. “I, I think I can help. I know, if you, if you press in a certain spot it’ll come out.”

“Do it,” Lars begged. “Please.”

“Lie back d-”

Another wave of water leaked in. the flood, now trapped, only raised higher. 

The infant in Lars’s arms screamed, sensing his pain. She was as earnestly worried as I felt. Lars patted her back. “You’re okay,” he breathed. He placed a gentle kiss atop her head. “You’re okay.”

I took his arm, the one not holding to pink diamond as tightly, lowering him back down against the counter. The edge of the blanket dropped off the edge, dipping into the brown water. 

Lars panted. In the pale light, he looked more corpse-like than ever. The blanket over his shoulders clung to his, sweat pouring down the sides of his face. Tears still made slow tracks through the dirt clinging to his cheeks. 

“Hold on to her,” I said. “No matter what I do, no matter how it hurt do not let her go.”

“Couldn’t if I tried.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're almost to the end of this adventure. Thank you all for reading. I love all the reviews and if you have any questions or suggestions I love answering it all. :)


	17. Chapter Seventeen

I reached for the band of his shorts when the door behind us burst open. 

We both jumped. Lars, true to his word pulled the baby closer. 

Water gushed out of the room, dropping to a filthy scuzz over what had once been clean tile. 

“Lars!” a series of voices yelled. Garnet came in first, he fists full of splintered wood. 

“What’s happened?” Garnet asked, her face deathly serious. 

“He had the baby,” I began, “just a few minutes ago. But he’s still-”

Steven ran in, Pearl shouting just behind him. “Lars!”

“Hey Steven,” Lars said, voice hoarse. 

Taking the moment of distraction in hand I took both hands and pressed down on the right muscle. 

Lars’s scream was louder than anything he’d managed during the entire delivery. He tense, curling into the fetal position. From his already filthy pant leg came the last of the disgusting bloody afterbirth. 

His tense frame crumbled, His eyes were half open, mouth a silver. He’d passed out, too weak to handle anything else thrown at him. 

“What are you doing?” Steven yelled, climbing up onto the counter next to me. 

“It’ll take to long to explain,” I reached through his limp arms and took the tiny yellow blanket. With my free ha,nd I pulled up his eyelid. My own heart was thumping in my chest, still terrified by the noise he’d made. 

“Saide is he, is he,” Steven was next to me, eyes wide as dinner plates.

“No,” I said, trying to sound more sure than I was. “Just take him back home.”

“What about his infant?” Pearl asked, standing in the doorway. 

“I have them,” I said. Even the idea of handing the innocent little one to them was leaving my stomach in knots. “You take Lars, I’ll go with you.” It wasn’t a question, wasn't a request. There was no chance I was leaving Lars alone. I wouldn’t let him or the baby pass into unfamiliar hands. I didn’t care how responsible they’d been for Steven. This was different. 

Garnet reached over and took the limp form of Lars. “Let’s get him back to the temple.”

Steven looked over my shoulder at the terrified tiny face of the baby. “Hi,” he whispered. 

“Later Steven,” I gave him a small smile. “Let’s get Lars and the baby cleaned up.”

He nodded and hopped down, following after Garnet. “We can put them in the clothes we got, and we have carriers and bottles and-” Steven rattled off a million things, his face bright with excitement. 

I tried to smile, tried to match even a small fraction of his excitement. How was he so happy? Hadn’t he seen what had just happened? Didn’t he see the utter disaster around him? 

I glanced at the destroyed docks, the shops half standing. Homes were shut tight, everyone still hiding. The clouds above were black, threatening more storms. This wasn’t over. We weren’t safe yet. I clung to the bundle in my arms. Looking down at the tiny crumpled face I felt my heart soften. 

This was worth it wasn’t it? All the awful mess we’d all just endured, the mess we still had to endure, it was worth it for this precious little baby. 

I looked back up at Garnet, seeing Lars’s arm hanging limply at her side. I really hoped it was worth it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, I know, I know. It's laaaate and very very short. I think there are going to be maybe a couple more chapters.   
> Thank you all so much for your patience and support.


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